Mechagodzilla XIV: Past Present Future
by CII
Summary: Yesterday is better than today, and the next. A meteor draws closer to Earth, carrying the Scourge King Ghidorah and the dawning of the Sixth World. This could be Kiryuu's last battle.
1. Forward

**Forward**

When everything was said and done at the end of _Mechagodzilla XIII: Into the Abyss_, the story continued beyond and Kiryuu began to make connections with a man named Alan Tyler. Alan Tyler was a person who witnessed and survived the attack by the strange three-headed space dragon known to the British known as 'Monster Zero'. But he also had a secret as well, a secret he did not know about. Kiryuu discovered Alan on the internet, finding the man's photographs of monsters entertaining. Alan was a person who chased monsters, especially Godzilla, and freelanced for various scientific agencies, one especially the Godzilla Prediction Network ran by Dr. Yugi Shinoda. But Alan wanted to find out all he could about the secret of the Utah Foundation, especially after he found out about what Kiryuu looked like under the helm. He, as well as Shinoda, wanted to know why Godzilla took a particular interest in the mecha. His answers came when Kiryuu called for an audience with him only 20 miles away from Toole, Utah. Kiryuu charged Alan with a task of retrieving vital information about the weapon that caused his death in 1954. As payment, Kiryuu would release to Alan information he had gathered from the British and American governments about the conspiracy cover-up of Monster Zero. Alan agreed and reluctantly infiltrated the Crisis Control Institution in Tokyo, Japan—a job Kiryuu referred to as a Shadowrun. Alan had become Kiryuu Knight's first Shadowrunner in this process. But then, Alan discovered not only the weapon that was responsible for the death of the first Godzilla, but also evidence as to what happened to him nearly 5 years ago during a monster chase—called a G-Chase, along with his colleagues.

He had discovered that the CCI had spliced his cells with that of Godzilla's in an effort of using him to control Godzilla. His colleagues were mutated beyond human recognition, but he was only left with golden eyes.

Horrified, Alan returned to the States and gave Kiryuu the information. Kiryuu kept his end of the bargain and gave Alan the information about Monster Zero—who Kiryuu refers to as King Ghidorah. Kiryuu reveals to Alan that King Ghidorah has visited Earth many times in the past and tells him that life and civilization becomes destroyed when King Ghidorah visits. Though the space dragon was not responsible for the fall of Atlantis, it did attempt to attack the Technomantic Empire in an effort to absorb the life force energies the Tower of Atlantis gathered. Atlantis fell because they tried to develop a powerful weapon that would defend them against another attack from the evil dragon.

Manda appears to Kiryuu and informs him that when King Ghidorah comes, he will change the world. Manda began to mark that every day was steadily becoming worse than the previous day—until the whole world will collapse, giving rise to a new era known as the Sixth World.

Alan, being connected to Godzilla, starts to notice that he is having dreams where he is Godzilla and is also haunted by the voice of King Ghidorah—who's presence could be felt more as he drew nearer to Earth. At the same time, the CCI does an investigation on the stolen information and Minister of Defense Katagiri discovers that the Utah Foundation is behind it. Discovering that Shinoda had helped the thief and finding that he had some connection with the Utah Foundation, Katagiri arrests Shinoda for crimes of treason against Japan. Katagiri, Shinoda and his daughter Io fly to America in search of Alan while CCI hackers attack the Utah Foundation's databases for the stolen information.

Kiryuu studies the information that Alan has given him and found out that the weapon that killed him was called the Oxygen Destroyer created by the late Daisuke Serizawa. Kiryuu, at first, promises Alan that he would not build this weapon—but goes back on his word when he discovers that his own weapons may not be enough to kill King Ghidorah. At the same time, he attempts to fend off the attacks made by the CCI on the Foundation's databases. Kiryuu then decides to trick the CCI and allow them to steal American top secret files on Q Terizawa's Dimension Tide. This causes Katagiri to be arrested in Utah by the FBI.

Shinoda sends Io to find Katsura Yugami and stay with her where she could be safe as well as returning the syntech that Kiryuu had given Alan to give to Shinoda. Kiryuu then calls Alan and informs him of the attack as well as how close King Ghidorah was to Earth. Kiryuu tells Alan not to worry about Io and sends him on his way to find Shinoda and get him away from Katagiri…

Which now leaves us to start _Mechagodzilla XIV: Past Present and Future_, which begins at the Utah Foundation of Bio-Organic Research's fund raiser party…


	2. The Blackout

_If I leave here tomorrow _

_Would you still remember me? _

_For I must be traveling on, now, _

_There's too many places I haven't seen _

_And if I stayed here with you, now _

_Things just wouldn't be the same _

_Well I'm as free as a bird now, _

_And a bird you can not change._

_Lord knows I can't change…_

_Bye, bye, it's been a sweet love. _

_And though this feeling I can't change. _

_Please don't take it badly, _

_The Lord knows I'm to blame. _

_And, if I stayed here with you now _

_Things just wouldn't be the same. _

_For I'm as free as a bird now, _

_And this bird you'll never change. _

_And the bird you can not change._

_Lord knows, I can't change. _

_Lord help me, I can't change._

_Won't you fly on, Free Bird, yeah!_

_**Free Bird by Lynyrd Skynyrd**_

He opened his eyes just as the final strum of the electric guitar rolled off the speakers. That was the most calming piece of music he had ever heard in his existence and he always kept going back to it. He switched over to another version of _Free Bird_, this one preformed by the Charlie Daniels Band. He could not get enough of that song. He never knew where this love came from, but it was there. This was a song he definitely wanted to twirl Maria Vasquez around with as well, but he had a feeling those old fossils at the fund raiser probably would not allow it. He stared at himself in the mirror, looking over the ensemble he downloaded to fit his human avatar form. He went through several tuxedoes, trying to get one with a slight different style, but not too outlandish that people would be talking down about it later on. After all, he was going as Gordon Knight's most trusted financial advisor. And he thanked the day he actually went through the course in order to get a true certificate stating that he was. It was an online course of course, and the teacher never saw his face. Though, it was the first time he actually brought up the courage in order to use his real name Kiryuu Knight in the school roster. The other students did mention how interesting the name sounded. One of the students mentioned he knew a friend Kiryuu Watanabe and asked if Kiryuu Knight was Japanese. It shocked Kiryuu a little to find that there were other beings out there with his name. Though there were many different 'Kiryuu's', there was only one of him. And he was more than happy to have it that way.

Kiryuu stood before the mirror, his avatar in its human shape. He was a Japanese man, with rather common looking features. The only thing that stuck out and set him apart from any other Asian looking human was his eyes. They were golden, like glistening pools of liquid, with the black pupils cutting the metallic like a knife. He was in the men's bathroom, looking at the full body mirror before him. Making sure no one else was in the room, Kiryuu glanced back at the mirror, watching as his human form melted before him. Now a biomechanical dinosaur dressed in the tux he picked out stood before him in the reflection of the mirror. His tux was black with a silky, dark blue waistcoat and matching tie. He even wore white gloves. Kiryuu flipped his dreads back, striking a slight pose, with a satisfied smirk on his holographic face. He looked good, even in the avatar of his true form. He just had this look about him, this look of suave, dashing, charming, and intelligent debonair. He was going to dance with Maria, that is if he could steal himself away from Gordon's chats with the old fossils long enough to do so. He was glad that Katsura had given her ticket to Maria. She had more important things to do than go to the fundraiser.

Kiryuu turned slightly as he heard the sound of someone walking in.

"Ah, I must comment on the attire," began an unfamiliar, Spanish-accented voice. "Bueno. You look like you are about to take on the world, mi amigo."

Kiryuu turned around, his eyes wide when he spotted a mocha-skinned, tall man with a goatee and shoulder-length, jet-black hair.

"Who are you?" Kiryuu asked, shocked that this man has invaded his privacy, and even more so because Kiryuu's image was not human. But this man was not even upset about it.

"Lo siento," he began. "I am Soñador Malcho."

"The CEO of Omak-Argon Industries?" Kiryuu asked.

"And the creator of your shields," Malcho said.

"You—know…about me?"

"Of course I do," Malcho chuckled. "I've known all the time. I have to in order to know who I'm making these shields for."

"From what I am reading, you are not shocked," Kiryuu said.

"No, amigo," Malcho rumbled. "I am not. I am more than thrilled about who you are and what you are. But enough of that. I wanted to see you before I left. I'm afraid I would have to cut it short here. Give Gordon my regards."

"How did you—find me?" Kiryuu asked.

"I have my ways," Malcho replied. "I hope when this is all over you and I can contact each other more often. There are some things I wish to discuss with you—business relations. I wanted to deal directly with the new CEO of the Utah Foundation."

"Of course," Kiryuu nodded. "Unfortunately I am not the CEO yet."

"But you will be," said Malcho. "I wanted to make sure you know who I am when that happens and you are left with the company."

"I shall make a note of you," said Kiryuu. "For future reference."

"Come to me if you need assistance with managing this company," Malcho stated. "My line is open. Call me anytime. Even if you are having an issue with the shields. Day, night. I am here to help. Adios."

He handed Kiryuu a card and then walked out of the room. Kiryuu chuckled and tucked the card into a drawer in the room. Then, he heard the sound of another set of feet walking up to him. He turned back around once more. It was Gordon, also dressed in his full tux.

"Well, I see you're all set," began Gordon, skimming over his creation's dressings. "Except you need to get rid of that reptile look. I can't have you going out there looking like that."

"Someday, I will," Kiryuu began.

"Someday," Gordon nodded. "But that is a long way off. Well, we've got guests to tend to. Best not keep them waiting for long."

"Compliance," Kiryuu sighed as his image shifted back to human again.

"Maria's waiting," Gordon winked. "And she looks absolutely beautiful in that dress you bought her."

"She picked it out," said Kiryuu. "I just gave her the money."

"Well, come along now," said Gordon.

Kiryuu nodded as he snapped his fingers, shutting off the music inside the bathroom. He followed Gordon out.

"You know if one of our guests had walked in there with you playing that song and looking the way you were…"

"I would have known it before they even stepped in," Kiryuu interrupted.

"I just thought I'd remind you, Kiryuu," Gordon began.

"I know, Gordon," Kiryuu nodded. They walked out to the ballroom. The room was dark and a glass ball turned suspended from the ceiling and cascading a myriad of lights onto the floor. They had a DJ there, playing soft jazz tunes and what would be considered elevator music. Kiryuu was a fan of jazz, but he often got bored of it once he heard it too often. One thing he never could get bored of and that was classic rock. He loved playing it. Especially _Free Bird_. Kiryuu sighed a bit as Gordon led him over to one of his gracious and most generous givers. As Kiryuu walked across the floor, he scanned for Maria, trying to make sure she made it on time. She was not there, like Gordon had said.

"Tanaka-san," began Gordon, using Kiryuu's secret identity. "You remember Mr. Fitzgerald from New Hampshire?"

Kiryuu quickly turned his attention to the roly-poly looking-elderly man before him. He was your typical looking, rich fat guy, puffing on an expensive Cuban cigar.

"Good evening, Mr. Tanaka," began Fitzgerald. Kiryuu bowed politely.

"Konbanwa, Fitzgerald-san," Kiryuu promptly began using his best Japanese accent to disguise his voice. He set his voice in a pitch slightly higher than normal, making sure that Mr. Fitzgerald would not identify with it being Gordon's sampled voice. "And how are you?"

"Just lovely," he replied. "I've heard good things again about your financial prowess for Mr. Knight's company. Once more, I have to hire you for my own institutions."

"I am sorry," Kiryuu began. "But my services are not for sale outside the Foundation."

"A pity," Fitzgerald sighed. "But I can always try again next year."

"I would consider it most hurtful if you didn't, Fitzgerald-san," Kiryuu began.

"Isn't it polite that I ask more than once in the Japanese culture?" he asked.

"Hai," Kiryuu replied. "It is. And you may ask as many times as you want. But my answer will still be no. I work only for Mr. Knight, and no other. I mean no offense."

"So loyal," Gordon chuckled. "Try as you may, you can never take Tanaka away from me."

"He's a hard one to catch," Fitzgerald chuckled. "More and more, I envy you, Gordon."

Gordon's grin grew even more, which told Kiryuu that he was proud again for creating such a brilliant AI. And this made Kiryuu smile slightly, but not overly so. He did not want Mr. Fitzgerald to get the wrong ideas. He turned away for a moment when he saw Maria step onto the dance floor. Kiryuu smiled, sighing with relief that she was there.

"Excuse me for a moment," he bowed again. "I must—attend to the other guests."

Gordon chuckled just as he watched the hologram slide away, slowly walking over to Maria. Kiryuu walked up to her, tapping her softly on the shoulder.

"Kiryuu…" she breathed, her heart leaping for a moment. "You surprised me."

"Where were you?" Kiryuu asked. "Gordon said you were out here. When I found you weren't, I was once more approached by Mr. Fitzgerald. He tries again every year to employ me. I was hoping…"

"You were hoping that I'd step in and save you?" Maria asked.

"Well, to give me another reason than 'pardon me, but I must use the bathroom' bit," Kiryuu sighed, holding out his hand. "May I have this dance?"

He took her in his arms and they swept onto the floor, moving to the beat.

"Did I ever tell you how wonderful you look in that dress?" he asked.

"Not yet," she replied with a giggle. "Keep talking."

"You look _ravishing_," Kiryuu purred.

"And you look better as your normal self," Maria grinned back. "I don't think I can get used to the 'human' you."

"And why is that?" Kiryuu asked, amused.

"Your expressions don't match up with your whole persona in your human avatar," she replied. "It's just not you."

"As much as I'd want to," Kiryuu began. "I can't change out."

He spun her around again and she giggled. She brought him close and leaned up, kissing him on the lips. Gordon smiled as he watched the couple dance. In some ways it reminded him of the relationship he once had with his wife. But as the years went by, the two became more distant. Gordon was glad he could see the young love again, and to relive those memories he had.

"They are a lovely couple," said Fitzgerald. "Though, last time I saw Mr. Tanaka, Dr. Yugami was his bell of the ball."

"I'm afraid they've parted ways since then," said Gordon. "Tanaka is seeing my other lead scientist Dr. Vasquez."

The music came to a slight halt just as the lights began to flicker around the ballroom. The dancers slowed to a stand still as the floor itself began to vibrate. Gordon glanced down and then up, seeing the chandeliers tremble above. Then, he glanced over at Kiryuu's human avatar. The image began to flicker, filling with snow and particle pieces. Kiryuu looked up and then back to Maria as his image flickered about.

"What's happening?" he asked. He glanced down just as his human disguise faded away, replaced by the image of his true form.

"Kiryuu?" Maria asked as she watched his image flicker again.

"Kiryuu!" Gordon cried when he saw the change in avatar.

Kiryuu barred his fangs when the guests saw him, flinging his green dreads back. His image continued to flicker as well as the lights. Gordon glanced down at his cell phone, seeing that even it was acting strange. The lights around the dial pad flickered and the screen looked scrambled. He glanced back at Kiryuu, seeing that the mecha was struggling to keep his image hole, but the avatar flickered violently. Lines of code phased about Kiryuu's hologram, scrolling up and down. Maria could even see error messages in the image as Kiryuu struggled to keep him self there.

"Kiryuu!" Maria cried as the image of the true form of Mechagodzilla suddenly disappeared and the ballroom was flung into darkness.

"What the hell?" Gordon asked, looking around in the blackness.

"What was all that about?" Fitzgerald asked. "I saw Tanaka standing with Dr. Vasquez, and then the strangest thing happened. I saw your Mechagodzilla right afterwards."

"Uh, a trick on the lights perhaps," Gordon scratched his head. "Don't worry about it. Right now, I want to know what happened to the lights."

Maria ran up towards Gordon, pulling him away from Fitzgerald.

"What happened to Kiryuu?" she asked.

"I don't know," he whispered back. "When the power went out, so did the holo-projector."

She glanced around, noticing that not even the emergency lights were on.

"Where's the emergency lights?" she asked. Gordon glanced back at his phone.

"My phone is out too," he replied. "Uh, Mr. Fitzgerald, how is your cell phone?"

"Completely dead, old friend," he replied. "What a strange night we're having. Do you know what could have done this?"

Gordon turned away and glanced back at Maria: "Dr. Vasquez, I need to talk to you for a moment. Excuse me, Mr. Fitzgerald."

"Of course," he nodded. Gordon slowly led Maria away.

"Gordon, what's this all about," Maria asked.

"Maria, the only thing that could have shut down cell phones, lights, and holo-projectors is an electromagnetic disturbance," he whispered.

"Electromagnetic?" she asked. "How do you know?"

"Remember my EMP dish at Yokohama?" Gordon asked. "The thing that shut down Kiryuu twice when we were in Japan? That's how."

"Is there an emitter?"

"No," he whispered. "There isn't. And I can't contact the base with the phone down."

"What do we do?" Maria asked.

"Well, tomorrow, I'm calling the electric company to get my house rewired," Gordon sighed. "Because if that was an EMP, then everything electronic has just been fried. Just stay here until we find out what happened."

"What the hell—what the hell—what the hell…" Will breathed as tried to get some response from the computers. Every screen was black. The lights were off, but the emergency lights were on. Will glanced up through the bay window and saw Mechagodzilla. Kiryuu's head was slumped down, his body limp against the brace behind him. It almost seemed like there was no life in him and that frightened Will. If Kiryuu was some how shut down then that meant that Katsura might be lying in the floor somewhere in the base.

"Kat…" he breathed. "Kiryuu? Come on, pal, wake up! Wake up, pal!"

There was no response.

"Kiryuu!" cried Will. "Up and at 'em, pal! Come on!"

Will sighed as he leaned against his chair, staring back at the mecha. He shook his head in grief, growling deeply.

"Great, he's knocked out," he sighed.

"Will!" cried a voice from behind him. Will glanced back to see Tochi and Mike run through the control room door.

"Yo, Will!" cried Tochi. "What happened?"

Mike glanced up at Kiryuu: "What's up with him?"

"Out like a light," Will sighed.

"Wasn't he at the Foundation fancy party?" asked Mike.

"When the power went out," said Will. "It cut Kiryuu's connection. I can't get anything back on, not even Kiryuu. Which is odd, because even if we have a power outage, he has his own power pack that would still be able to power him. Only an EMP can shut down Kiryuu like this."

"If an EMP happened, our emergency lights wouldn't be on," said Mike.

"Then why isn't Kiryuu responding?" Tochi asked.

"I don't know," Will sighed. "It doesn't make sense. Have you seen Katsura?"

"Last time I checked she was with Io," replied Mike.

"If Kiryuu is out like a light, that means Katsura is too," Will began. "Go find them. Io must be scared."

"Uh, I don't speak Japanese that well, boss," Mike shrugged.

"But I do," Tochi shook his head. "Come on, Mike."

Will glanced back when he felt the control room tremble. He saw the immense form of Kiryuu jerk for a moment, his head bobbing up and down.

"What the hell?" he asked. "Kiryuu?"

The body jerked up again and settled back down, but Kiryuu still did not awaken.

"Go find Katsura, you two," Will ordered, his voice grating through his teeth. "Now!"

Will sighed just as the other two technicians darted back out the door. He ran his hand through his blond hair, shaking his head as he saw Kiryuu jerk his head up again. There was something going on inside the mecha that caused him to do this. Something was happening to Kiryuu that Will did not like.

"Hang in there, pal," he began. "Just hang in there."

Tochi and Mike ran down the hall towards Katsura's office. They remembered that Katsura and Io were there. She was going over some last minute files with Io helping her out. Io Shinoda, the daughter of Yugi Shinoda and an old college sweetheart of Katsura, had come into the care of Katsura just recently. Though Io was very intelligent and she knew a lot about biology thanks to her father, she knew very little English. So, Katsura made sure that she stuck by her. Tochi figured Io might be very scared right now, especially if Katsura was unconscious thanks to the mental link between she and Kiryuu. Hopefully Io stayed with Katsura. They sped up their pace as they made their way to Katsura's office. When they opened the door they found Io and Katsura. Katsura was holding her head, but she was not unconscious.

"Kat!" Mike cried. "Oh, thank God you're okay."

"I'm fine," she sighed. "What happened?"

"Power outage," replied Tochi. "And Kiryuu's completely knocked out. But…you're not…"

"No, I'm not," she said. Katsura pulled her long hair away from her neck to reveal her data-jack. There in the jack was a rubber plug, the same plug Kiryuu gave her in order to block their link. "It must have shielded me from Kiryuu's shut down. So, that's why I'm not unconscious."

"That's good," sighed Tochi with some relief. "We need you back at the control room. Kiryuu's going through spasms."

"Spasms?" Katsura asked. She turned to Io. "Come on."

"Hai," Io nodded. They rushed back towards the control room finding Will at wits end. The computer programmer stared blackly at Kiryuu as the mecha continued to spasm and jerk about. Katsura shook her head, dumbfounded as to why it was happening.

"Kat!" Will cried. "You're awake!"

"The plug Kiryuu gave me even protects me from things like this," she said. "What's wrong?"

"See for yourself," began Will said as he led her out on the catwalk. Katsura watched as Kiryuu's form jerked around, and then fell silent after that.

"Kiryuu…" she breathed. Katsura closed her eyes as she removed the plug from her data-jack. _Kiryuu, wake up! Kiryuu! What's the matter?_

There was still no answer.

"I can't contact him," she said. "Will…"

Will glanced back at the control room seeing if the computer was coming back on. He shook his head.

"He's doing something," he said. "I just don't know what."

Katsura shook her head and knelt down to the floor, running her hands through her hair. Io walked up to her and laid her hand on Katsura's back.

"Katsura, what's happening to Kiryuu?" she asked.

"I don't know," Katsura replied. "I just don't know."

Kiryuu breathed slowly as he felt around his surroundings. The floor was hard and slick like glass, but covered in some sort of strange liquid. He could not see anything around him. His eyes were closed but he could not open them no matter how hard he tried. Kiryuu felt droplets of the strange liquid splash down upon his face. It was warm. His sensors in his mouth tasted the liquid. It had an iron taste to it. Kiryuu tried to lift himself up, but the liquid made the floor he laid on too slippery. As he raised himself up, he flopped back down onto the floor, splashing around in the liquid.

_Kiryuu…_breathed a voice to him. He recognized it somewhere back in deep within his processors. _Kiryuu, give me your hand…_

Kiryuu raised a claw up into the air, feeling around where the voice was coming from. He could not tell where he was. The last thing he remembered was that he was at the fund raiser, dancing with the lovely Maria Vasquez. Then, some how his mind was flung from that to this darkness. A part of him knew that he was trapped in his CPU again, but he wanted to know how it came about. He also wanted to know why he could not see. Kiryuu rolled over to his back and sighed, his lips curling up in frustration.

_Kiryuu…_the voice began again.

"I can't see!" he roared. "I can't come to you. You'll have to come to me."

_Kiryuu…_

Kiryuu's eyes suddenly cleared and he glanced around.

"Who said that?!" he swung his head around at the sound of the voice coming from the darkness. He was at that party, he knew that he was there. He had to know how he got here.

_You're not there anymore, Kiryuu, _the voice teased with a laugh.

The void he stood in seemed strangely familiar. Kiryuu knelt down and breathed, touching the solid blackness beneath him.

"If I'm not there," Kiryuu began. "Then, where am I?"

_Where do you think?_

Kiryuu's head dipped and his eyes became downcast. He knew where he was and he became distraught about it.

"Erika," he growled. "Is this your idea of a sick joke?"

Just as he spoke her name, her massive, but bound form appeared. The great reptilian plant gripped her cage with massive grasping claws. Her long, wedge-like snout curled up into a fiendish grin, showing every glistening fang in her pale gums. Her dark eyes gleamed with mischievous deliberation and her expression conveyed the look that she knew something was about to happen, something that Kiryuu could never anticipate—no matter the computing capacity of his processors. And the look upon her face mocked him with that hidden knowledge. Kiryuu's face wrinkled and twisted with heated resentment. And all Biollante could do was snicker.

_Oh, Kiryuu! _ She scoffed with a giggle. _You look so cute when you're threatening me!_

"Shut up!" Kiryuu barked. "Why am I here?"

_I didn't bring you here, _Biollante shrugged. _I can't do anything from this horrible prison you locked me in._

Kiryuu crossed his arms and cocked an eyebrow up at her in query. "Then, why was I brought here? Who shut me down?"

Biollante shrank back from the metal bars and crossed her arms in another mock expression, emulating Kiryuu.

_I'm not going to tell you, _her head turned away from him and gave a sniff.

"Erika…" Kiryuu gnashed his fangs together.

_You're being an old grouch!_

"Tell me!" Kiryuu roared, his lips pulled back across his many racks of piercing, jagged incisors.

_Hello, Kiryuu, _hissed a voice from behind him. Kiryuu's face turned to stone and his form froze. Biollante turned back to him and a leering smirk appeared on her face when she saw his frozen expression of both recall and haunting dread. He knew that voice. It was a voice he had not heard in many years. He broke off in mid crisis of conflicting and baleful thoughts, daring a peek at who spoke. Kiryuu slowly turned his head and faced the demon who brought out so much terror inside of him. He wanted to run, he wanted to hide, but he was too frightened to move.

_It's been a long time, Kiryuu, _the voice continued. _Such a long time. I thought I had gotten all of you._

"You missed one," Kiryuu's expression of fear changed to composed defiance, obscuring any fear he had away.

There, standing before him in all his golden majesty was King Ghidorah. His fanned wings spread wide and his three necks arched back. The dragon lifted his center head back and let loose a powerful cackle. The two outer heads were adorned differently than the center head. The center head, showing its dominance over the other two held a crown of antler-like, branched horns. Though all three heads were adorned with wispy whiskers and a flowing mane of sunshine. The whole body of King Ghidorah glowed, wrapped in the beams of a thousand suns. Even to the most advanced civilizations King Ghidorah appeared to be a creature of divine stature and holy power. And Kiryuu, with all his infinite knowledge, superior intellect, and immortal essence, could not hold a candle to the godly visage of King Ghidorah. With that thought, Kiryuu literally felt compelled to prostrate before the magnificent space dragon.

The bio-mechanical Godzilla felt his leg fold in underneath him as he knelt down before the dragon. Biollante's dark eyes opened wide and her jaw dropped in disbelief. Kiryuu, in all his belligerent defiance towards him human overseers, bowed for the first time to the one being that could easily through him into Oblivion with a mere thought. She could sense his fear and for the firs time in her existence she felt afraid. This was not the Kiryuu she had grown to love and torment out of pleasure because of that love. It was his strength, his insufferable disobedience to his creators, his dark, _savoir-faire_ charms, and his sinister demeanor. All of that melted away at the sight of King Ghidorah, leaving behind a mere shell of his former self. And she was afraid of this.

_Kiryuu! _She howled. _Kiryuu! What are you doing?!_

Kiryuu glanced up just as King Ghidorah knelt down to him. The dragon's broad wings enveloped the bio-mecha in them. The two outer heads opened their maws and latched themselves onto Kiryuu's shoulders.

_Now, Kiryuu, _King Ghidorah began. _You will give me what I want. The planet's most destructive weapons, I want full control over them._

Kiryuu's wagged: "I can't."

_And why?_

Kiryuu's mind suddenly took a regressive turn as his face drew upon a blank appearance.

"I cannot comply with your request for that piece of information is not within my databanks," he replied in a computerized tone. His voice lacked flavor, vigor, or even emotion. King Ghidorah relaxed his grip and leaned down closer to Kiryuu.

_Can you find that information for me?_ He asked. _Can you give me the codes I seek?_

"Negative," Kiryuu replied, his tone still dry. He sounded more like a machine than a living being. "That information is not available on any national or military grid. The codes used in launching any nuclear missile, tactical or otherwise is not kept on any electronic file. Such information is too volatile to kept record of, and because of the number of randomness the code continuously changes to, there is no sure way to say that one code is the same. Also, in order to fire any military nuclear device, such ability cannot be done remotely from any facility. Firing missiles is done by the turning of two keys held by two acting high ranking officers at the base. Both keys must be turned simultaneously in order for the missile to be fired. Therefore, I have no such information in order to fire a nuclear missile, nor do I possess the ability to do so."

King Ghidorah was not pleased by this answer.


	3. The Rhythm of the Earth’s Heart

**The Rhythm of the Earth's Heart**

They awoke, distraught and confused. First he awoke, then his companion. Nearly forty-five years ago, he awoke from his slumber, confused about where he was. The field of grass and rolling meadows turned into an island shore since his slumber began. He found himself disoriented, noticing that his body had changed during his sleep. He had grown, and so did his companion. His companion was a creature of flight, a creature that the tiny humans called a pteranodon. And he was an ankylosaur. Forty-five years ago, they both awoke and left their homes to see what changed in the world. They were met by resistance from the new mammalian dominance. The world had changed much. It cooled down greatly, but this new body of his cared little about it.

He was not friends with his flying companion, but they had a mutual agreement. And that was all. His companion became his eyes in the sky and he the voice from the ground. The two separated that day and he found himself in the frigid north, met not only by the hairless mammals, but another familiar face. This animal was like him, reptilian and ancient. He knew the face, but like him, had gone through changes. He was a theropod, a hunter among dinosaurs. But before the change, his kind was too small to hunt ankylosaurs. It seemed that the hunter had also grown much. He remembered that this particular predator, the last time before the golden dragon appeared—this one was just a hatchling, but his father was a purposeful hunter. His father, the one with the gold eyes—not a usual feature in his species—must have been one of the ones taken by King Ghidorah. He almost felt sorry for the predator until the antagonist attacked him with a spray of blue flames. He remembered how much it hurt. Instinct took over and he and his adversary fought. Usually, an ankylosaur would not fight, but his changes not only his body, but his judgment as well, and he became violent. And they fought until he gave in and retreated. The predator, with his fire breath, proved to be too powerful a foe. He left, rejoining his flying companion back to their island home.

He and the pteranodon met up with the predator the tiny creatures named Godzilla only a few years later and they heard of the death of Godzilla's father at the hands of the humans. The ankylosaur and the pteranodon felt it was time to return to another timely slumber of dreams. This world had changed too much for them and they did not belong in it any longer.

Now, they awoke again, disturbed by something familiar. This familiar thing baffled and frightened them because they knew what it was and they did not much like the look of it. _He_ had returned and from what they heard from the local animals, for the second time since the Great Extinction 130 million years ago. They slept through the last one. King Ghidorah was only there for a short while, but the humans chased him away. The humans were capable of great things, but not the defeat of King Ghidorah. He was startled, but not overcome. He went away to gather strength for another day. The ankylosaur could sense the energy in the air and his nose wrinkled in disgust.

The ankylosaur glanced back when he heard the curious squawks from his winged companion. The lithe form of the pteranodon emerged from the cave above his and scratched his eyes. His commented on how the wind felt across the membranes of his broad wings. Years of gauging the wind, the temperature, and the moisture around him told him that a storm was coming. He shook his tight hide and squawked again. The two stood silently for what seemed an eternity, listening to the sounds of the waves crashing onto the sandy beaches and the jagged sharp rocks on the shore. It was as if they were listening to the beating of the planet's living heart. The sound of the waves seemed irregular and their once steady beat of the ocean slapping against the shore sounded unbalanced. This unsteady beat disturbed the pteranodon who has heard the sounds of the strong and steady rhythm of the waves as they crashed against the rocks of the shore near his roost. This unsteady beat greatly concerned him and he mentioned this to his spiky companion.

The armored and spiked dinosaur nodded in agreement, stating that the feel of the fresh soul also had an air of unsettlement. And they both fell silent gain. Unlike humans, who have just about everything to say from 'how's the weather' to 'I just got a raise at my job', animals' modes of communication were simple and straight-forward.

The ankylosaur sniffed the air once more, sensing a presence slowly lumbering towards him. He let loose a low rumble of warning to the newcomer into his territory. He did not mind sharing his territory with the pteranodon, but anyone else was not permitted. He arched his back up as he sensed the intruder coming closer, making his back spines look more prominent. His lips pulled back into a snarl and he gripped the ground, ready to spring out at the intruder. The pteranodon spread his wings and puffed his chest out, the flexible scales on his neck and his blue neck feathers raised up in order to make himself look larger.

The intruder slowly crept out from behind the rocks. The two other dinosaurs relaxed their stance when the new creature appeared. It was Godzilla. The enormous dinosaur knelt down, trying to make himself look less threatening and to let the other to know that he was not here to fight. Godzilla began to rumble and growl, giving off the mixture of sounds that represented his language. He told them that he sensed King Ghidorah's return as well. The ankylosaur lowered his head, shutting his eyes tightly as he remembered what King Ghidorah was like. Godzilla rumbled and glanced back at the rolling ocean. Even he could sense the irregular beat of the waves onto the shores. The whole planet could sense the space dragon's approach. Godzilla let loose an audible sigh when his thoughts returned to the mechanical one that was once his father.

Not even Mechagodzilla believed he had the power to stop King Ghidorah. Godzilla turned to the others and began to inform them that the humans by some miracle, had brought his father back to life. They had made him incredibly intelligent, fast, agile, and powerful. The humans, who killed his father, brought him back to life to defend him from his own son.

The ankylosaur snorted, roaring out that no creature, not even the humans had the power to bring the dead back. Though, the pteranodon seemed shocked, but intrigued by the miracles the humans seemed capable of accomplishing. The ankylosaur snorted skeptically and in unbelief. Godzilla defended his father, telling the other two the humans were capable of giving his father the power to possibly defeat King Ghidorah. Again, the spiky dinosaur was extremely doubtful. He demanded proof that the humans were capable of this. The pteranodon also agreed that he would like to see this marvel. Godzilla warned that his father had become faithfully loyal to the humans who brought him back to the living, and he devoted his services to them. There were times where Godzilla even questioned whether or not Kiryuu was his father anymore since the humans changed him. Though the love and affection was still there and Kiryuu expressed it that day in Florida.

Godzilla broke away from his memories of that day when he saw the ankylosaur leap off his rock. The spike-armored dinosaur hobbled towards the shoreline and bounded his thick, pudgy body into the water. Godzilla roared, running after him. He called after the four-legged reptile, trying to warn him that it was not a good idea to go seeking Kiryuu out. He remembered his father constantly warning him about not going into the lands occupied by the humans and he warned them of it as well. He warned that because of his father's fierce devotion to the tiny, hairless creatures that he will defend their territory even at the cost of killing anyone daring to venture to it. But the ankylosaur did not listen. He continued to paddle his way through the salty waves. The pteranodon launched into the air and followed his spiky companion. Godzilla continued to call out after them, sounding his baleful siren. They left him there alone on the shore. Godzilla slumped down upon the sand and sighed again. He did not want to disobey his father's command. Let them find out what happens when Mechagodzilla comes to defend the human lands. And all he could do was sit and wait for their return.

Manda settled down on his roof top of his double-wide trailer. Being a detective did not pay as much as many would think, but he made his modest home look like a palace with style and finesse. He relaxed against the lawn chair on the top of his roof, listening to the waves. The Earth's rhythm was uneven, wavering erratically like the beat of a human's heart under great strain to keep alive. Manda closed his eyes, his lengthy, serpentine form unwound as he focused on the soft crash of the waves against the sand.

Just two days ago, he had returned from Infant Island—from a meeting with the Earth's Guardian Mothra. Both were concerned about whether or not Kiryuu and Godzilla had the power to defeat King Ghidorah. His mind turned to another disturbance that he sensed coming from the northwest. Manda leaned up as he felt a fierce, chilled wind blow across his sapphire scales and he shivered with dread. He heard the sound of someone crying out in agony, begging under the strong, relentless will of another for release. The voice wailed out for help, pleading hopelessly to the one who held it captive.

"Marx!" another voice called, flinging him back to reality. "Marx!"

Manda opened his eyes, gasping as he dragged himself away from the northwest. He peered down from the edge of the roof, the sea breeze blowing locks of his green mane into his ruby eyes. Below him was his partner and his roommate Josefina Cortez. She was a fit and lithe Cuban, deeply browned from spending days out in the hot Miami Beach sun. Her silky, black, long hair whipped about in this strange wind.

"Marx!" Jo called. "It's going to storm. Get down from there."

"Storms don't bother me, Jo," Manda said.

"Well, they bother me," Jo said.

Manda chuckled again and returned his thoughts back to the west and that voice. He sensed something else as well, another presence that disturbed him when he tried to feel around for it.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jo asked.

"Listening to the waves," Manda replied.

Jo glanced back at the ocean in front of the trailer. To her, the sounds of the waves were the same as the day before. Her mind was not tuned to the energies of the world like he was—although perhaps maybe her ancestors once were. Humans had lost that ability when they began to 'civilize', becoming more like they are now.

"Whatever," Jo sighed, loosing interest with the sea she had seen many times before. She tucked her hands into the pockets of her low cut jeans and shook her head. "Don't stay out there too long. I'm cooking dinner."

"Just give me ten more minutes, Jo," Manda said as he focused on the new entity.

"I can't believe you called in sick for this," Jo threw up her arms at him. "The Chief isn't happy, you know. You're lucky that he makes good use out of your 'special' skills to solve cases, or else he would have kicked your ass off the force a long time ago."

"I'm grateful to his generosity," Manda scoffed. "Even if he's a pompous jack-ass."

Jo chuckled and walked inside. Their relationship was strictly platonic. She had recently lost her home to a fire started by a gang war and Manda took her in. She was grateful to him for she had not family to turn to. He was her family. Though, she knew that he was a Dragon even before she came to live with him. Since she moved in, he gave her his room and started to sleep on the couch. He was a great host to her and not once did he tell her that she was a burden upon him. But recently, she noticed he became a little more withdrawn. He became collective, reserved, and silently, rarely speaking anymore. And now he was missing more work, pretending he was sick so that he could spend the day listening to the ocean. And only he knew why. The Dragon was hiding something. Then, he left for Utah, and then for some place she never heard of—Infant Island.

Jo knew of Manda's other commitments, the fact he was once one of the Guardians of the fabled city of Atlantis. Though, he could at least elaborate on what was happening and whey he disappeared a few times. Jo just suck her head again and went back inside.

Manda crossed his arms again and took in a breath of contemplation. He focused once more on the entity that was moving in the west. As he focused on the energy, he began to realize that the entity moving was not alone. There was two of them making their way to the east. Manda followed their movements, finding that their heading was towards the West Coast. He concentrated on the two creatures as they traveled east. One appeared to be a bird-like creature with enormous wings flying over a spiky, armadillo-like creature. He knew of these creatures. The gojirasaurs were not the only ones who where brought to the modern world by Mothra, there were two others as well. The humans gave names to these dinosaurs, the pteranodon was called Rodan, and the ankylosaur was called Angilus. Why were Angilus and Rodan heading towards the West Coast? Manda's eyes opened wide when he realized what would be of interest to them.

"Kiryuu!" Manda bellowed.

Jo ran outside again when she heard him.

"What the hell's the matter now?" she asked.

"Kiryuu…" Manda gasped.

"Who?"

"Mechagodzilla," he replied. "There's two monsters heading for the West Coast."

"Oh, good," Jo began. "They can do us a favor and get rid of Los Angeles."

Manda rolled his eyes at the brash comment.

"Why are you so worried about it, Tim," she asked. "Mechagodzilla will kick their asses out of California."

Manda closed his eyes again, focusing his mind on Kiryuu. He heard that voice again, balefully shrieking out in agony. And there was another, a stronger force inflicting this agony upon the trapped and tormented individual. A second entity stood and watched helplessly as the torment continued. Manda began to realize that the voice crying out in agony was Kiryuu's."

"Oh-no," Manda breathed.

"What?" Jo asked.

"Something is happening," Manda began as he began to feel his way around Kiryuu's CPU. His connection was weakened by the distance for he was too far away to make any solid diagnosis. All he could see were shadows, and all he could hear were whispers. But the voice—Kiryuu's voice was loud enough for him to hear it even all the way in Florida. He could hear the other entity whisper softly, and that alone caused Kiryuu pain. At first, Manda thought the tormentor was Erika Munson. After all, Kiryuu was Biollante's favorite play thing. But this entity had a different energy pattern and it was many times stronger than that of Biollante. This new entity was not Biollante. Manda felt his mind shrink back to a memory that was inflicted up on him once ago. And he stood there upon the ruined Marble City—Knoxville, Tennessee. There was the free standing—82-meter tall structure the failed 1982's World's Fair, the gleaming Sunsphere. Though, the fair was a failure, the Sunsphere was a unique architectural structure and became the thing most people—Tennesseans especially—thought of when they heard the word 'Knoxville'. The campus site of the University of Tennessee was completely demolished and the famous Neyland Stadium—Home of the Tennessee Vols was flattened into rubble.

And there was Kiryuu, standing before the fallen body of his son, Godzilla, holding the decapitated head of his own son in his claws. Behind him loomed the sparkling, golden form of King Ghidorah. The great space dragon held a devious grin on each one of his three heads. And Manda heard Ghidorah chuckle deeply. Kiryuu joined him in the moment, chuckling sinisterly. Then, the flashes began and Manda saw the nuclear bombs explode on the horizon. Kiryuu's body jerked and he roared out in pain as the EMP shut down his systems, frying his circuits. And King Ghidorah laughed, watching his puppet fall to the ground. Mechagodzilla laid there across his son's body—joining Godzilla in the cold slumber of death. King Ghidorah flew on victorious, following the East-West Interstate 40. He turned towards the snow-capped mountains in the distance and set his sights for them.

"The Smoky Mountains?" Manda asked, recognizing the mountain range in the southeast.

_Get out of here!_ A powerful voice echoed furiously into Manda's head. The Eastern Dragon felt his body being picked up and flung backwards off his roof. He fell from the trailer to the ground below him in a painful crash. Manda opened his eyes, finding that his body was now lying in a sandy trench on his beach.

"Tim!" cried Jo as she came outside again, hearing the crash. "Tim!"

Manda moaned a bit, lifting his aching head up for a moment and then plopping it back down again.

"Timothy," Jo breathed as she picked the Dragon's head up and set it gently down into her lap. "Manda…"

Manda growled again, his lip coming up around his sharp fangs. Jo combed her fingers through his soft mane, comforting him as he growled. She felt the Dragon's body relax and Manda began to purr from the attention. He opened his eyes again and looked up at her, his eyes showing just how weary the fall made him.

"What happened, Tim?" she asked.

"Psycho-feedback," he replied. "My head hurts."

"Who caused it?"

"King Ghidorah…" he breathed.

"Who?"

"Remember those stories I used to tell you?" Manda asked. "Those stories about Monster Zero and how he attacked Atlantis?"

"Yes," she said though she did not like where this was going.

"Monster Zero attacked London, remember that?" he asked.

"Yes," Jo replied. "But they chased him away."

"He was surprised," Manda began. "He suffered a defeat, but he will return again. He won't rest until he's had his fill."

"Why is he coming back?"

"He devours the very life-force of planets," Manda replied. "And he also returns to finish what he started."

"And what's that?"

"The extinction of the dinosaurs," the Dragon replied in a morbid tone. "There are four dinosaurs left in this world. Angilus, Rodan, Godzilla, and his father—the original Godzilla—also known as Kiryuu. He'll kill them, only leaving Kiryuu alive to use him for whatever purpose he needs him for. And then he'll get rid of Kiryuu once he's done. He'll suck this planet dry of its life-force."

"Can't you do something?" she asked.

"Mothra forbids me to," he sighed. "And I must do what she says."

"That doesn't make any sense," Jo shook her head in dismay. "This concerns all of us, right?"

"Jo," Manda sighed as he leaned against her shoulder. "You're right. But if the world ends tomorrow, are you going to stop living your life day by day as you have been for the past many years? Are you going to just give up or are you going to continue on—knowing that the fate of the world is not left up to you? I've done my part, I've told the ones who have the power to change this to prepare themselves."

"But something tells me that you can still help them," she said, once more running her fingers through his hair.

Manda shook his head in disagreement.

"Tim," Jo rolled her eyes at him. "It's your job. To serve and protect. You're a cop and a Guardian, that goes double for you."

"Not when the boss forbids it," Manda sighed.

"Tim," Jo smirked. "You rarely obey the Chief. That last case you were on the Chief told you a thousand times not to interfere with, but you did. And you did because you cared. Are you telling me you don't care?"

"This isn't busting some alcoholic, drug-abusing, wife beater," Manda growled. "This is King Ghidorah."

"Drug users, murderers, domestic abusers," Jo sighed. "Gang wars and King Ghidorah. It's all the same thing. People still get hurt and as an officer of the law, you're supposed to help them. Even if you don't think you can win, you have to try."

"Kiryuu needs help," Manda said as a cordial as he could. It was his way in saying that she was right.

"So, go help him," Jo smiled.

Manda smiled sadly at her and leaned into her shoulder, burring his face in her hair. He began to release all his doubts and his fears then and sobbed. Jo raised her arms up and held him as he cried on her shoulder.

"I lost my dear friend because of King Ghidorah," Manda wept. "That demon tricked him, made him his slave, and corrupted him, poisoning him against me." Manda looked up at Jo. "And he'll do the same to the only being capable of defeating him."

"And you can help this person," Jo began.

"He would want to know about Knoxville," Manda said, remembering his last conversation with Kiryuu. "I kinda left him in the dark because not even I held all the answers."

"Do you have an idea now?"

"I know why King Ghidorah wants Knoxville," Manda replied. "But I don't know why he wants to go there. I guess telling Mothra would be a good idea—as well as telling Kiryuu. But I need help in assisting Kiryuu."

The Dragon rose up off the sand and shook his sapphire scales free from the grains.

"I have to leave again," he said as his form began to waver.

"And this time tell me where you're going," Jo crossed her arms with an expectant look. "I'm your partner, you know."

"I know," Manda smiled back. Then, he disappeared, leaving Jo with a disappointed look.

"Marx!" she cried. "Get your ass back here!"

Jo sighed and glanced back at the ocean.

"You're so lucky I care a lot about you, Tim Marx," she continued. "I think I maybe the only one who does and can still find you livable."


	4. Into the Crucible

**Into the Crucible**

The power finally came back on at the Knight Estate and all electronics were working again. Gordon bid his guests farewell as he personally saw them to their cars. Maria pulled her shawl over her shoulders and shivered. Her mind was on what happened to Kiryuu during the blackout. Because there was no power to the projectors, there was no way Kiryuu could sustain his image. Though, he was not worried about that, she was worried about Kiryuu. When the blackout happened, Kiryuu's avatar looked like he was in pain. That worried her more than the blackout.

Gordon waved good-bye to the last of the guests and walked back over to the stone steps that cascaded up towards his archaic, gothic mansion. Maria sat at the foot of the steps. He sat down beside her and patted her back comfortingly.

"I'm worried about Kiryuu," she said. "I wish I had Katsura's link so I could at least know what happened."

It's nice to know that," Gordon nodded in agreement. "I'm worried about him too."

Maria glanced back at him in some scrutiny.

"Well, why shouldn't I?" Gordon asked. "I put a lot of time, blood, sweat, and money on him. And—I care a lot about that overgrown, refurbished, scrapheap of old Chrysler spare parts. I do. I don't know what I'd do without him."

Maria smiled: "I love him."

Gordon sighed and glanced away. Somewhere he had a feeling that her relationship would end in tragedy much like Kiryuu's relationship with Katsura.

"You think it's not going to work out, do you?" Maria asked.

"Believe me," Gordon began with a heavy sigh. "Kiryuu, like all of us, wants to know love. And I know that he's probably a better man than any man I've ever known. He would treat you with love, respect, and dignity, which is more than what most men do for their women. He could take of most of your needs, but for that particular need—I'm afraid he won't be able to fulfill. He would want to very much, but he can't."

"I guess you didn't exactly equip him with any tool for that," Maria him a cheeky grin which made Gordon turn redder than a lobster with embarrassment.

"Well…" Gordon began, scratching his head and trying to find the right thing to say. "Kiryuu is male. He is a he. And the syntech is very—morphic."

He could not even bring himself to finish that very modest and rather touch and personal subject. But stating that Kiryuu was male was all the answer Maria needed.

_He's just probably too big, _Maria thought deeply and privately in her mind. Though that thought did give her a slight chuckle.

"Now," Gordon began, noticing the rather cheeky grin on her face again. "Don't you be thinking of those kind of thoughts about Kiryuu."

Maria broke out into laughter and her tanned face blushed with embarrassment.

"Anyways," Gordon's deep voice brought her back to the real subject. "Since my phone is working again, I'll call Will and see just what happened."

He brought out his cell phone, flipping the cover open and pressing Will's number on speed dial. After a long wait, Will finally answered.

"Will?" Gordon asked.

"Gordon!" cried Will. "We've got a crisis here!"

"What the hell is going on there?" Gordon called.

"Kiryuu!" Will began. "He's hacking into government servers again, and Katsura…"

"What's the matter with her?" he asked.

"She's fine," Will replied. "The plug helped. But every time she tries to go near him, she feels sick. She says something is attacking him."

"Is that Biollante bitch causing trouble again?" Gordon's face flushed with rage.

"No," Will replied. "It's not Erika. Katsura says she senses another presence inside of Kiryuu. She says that it is the one controlling Kiryuu. Gordon, Katsura says that he's in pain. And ever since the blackout here, he's been unconscious and he's having seizures."

"Okay," Gordon began. "I'll be down there in a second."

He hung up the phone and glanced back at Maria, a lot of worry was on his face.

"We need to get down there," he shook his head in dismay.

"What's happening?" Maria asked.

"Kiryuu's having seizures," Gordon replied. "Will says that someone is attacking him from inside his AI system."

"Who is it?"

"He's finding out," he replied.

The two rushed back into the mansion and came to the landing pad to the west of the estate. There, Chester McAnderson was waiting for them.

"Evenin', Mr. Knight," he began.

"Does the chopper work?" Gordon asked.

"It does now," he replied. "What happened earlier?"

"I don't know," Gordon replied. "But I have a feeling that this blackout also has something to do with Kiryuu's seizures. I need to get down to the base immediately."

"Aye, Mr. Knight," Chester nodded.

The pilot revved the engine up as Gordon and Maria strapped themselves in. As they took off, Gordon settled down into silently contemplation. He ran several ideas into this head, but still he could not understand why another hacker was causing so much problems. He ran his fingers through his silvery hair, shaking his head. He placed his head in his hand and sighed. Maria was also thinking about what was happening. Her thoughts were mainly on Kiryuu's problem. She stared amiably out the window, her mind was with Kiryuu. He was in pain, he was suffering, and no one knew why. Her eyes became downcast as she thought of him. What worried her was not even Katsura could help him. Maria wondered what she could do to help him, but she knew that if Will and Katsura could not, then there was little chance she could. All she could do was tell him that she loved him.

The chopper landed at the base and Chester's passengers got out.

"Let me know if you need me," began the pilot. "I'll be in the lounge." He turned back to Gordon. "And let me now if Kiryuu's gonna be okay."

"I will," Gordon nodded. "Come on Maria."

The power was on inside the base. Yet, still no attempt at trying to revive Kiryuu was successful. The seizures had stopped though and the great bio-mecha's form was quiet. Gordon and Will was running several in trying to unlock the AI's frozen OS. Gordon, having some understanding with Kiryuu's AI program, the hardware, processors, and the various upgrades that Will had added to the AI for faster processing speed, and compatibility with newer software.

They were running an external scan, which took longer than a scan that was done inside the cockpit. Katsura was running diagnostics on the syntech, hoping that whatever virus has caused the problem was not affecting the syntech's program. Maria assisted Katsura in reprogramming Kiryuu's syntech into bounding him tightly against the brace just in case he had another seizure attack.

Will scanned through the lines of code around Kiryuu's CPU, hoping that he would not loose the AI. Almost 20 years of his blood, sweat, and toil was used in creating the AI that has become like a brother to him. He was not about to let Kiryuu die now.

"Come on, pal," he whispered. "Don't quit on me now."

"Will," Gordon began. "I found something. What the hell is this here?"

Will rolled his chair over to the other end of the control room. He glanced over at Gordon's screen and read along the lines of code.

"It's encoded," Will replied. "One of Kiryuu's secret files. What's this 'Blue Breeze O2' folder?"

Katsura and Maria glanced over at the screen as the two men ran over the folder.

"What folder is that?" Gordon asked.

"Since Kiryuu's system is messed up, I can break through this encryption," said Will.

"Do it," Gordon huffed. "I want to make sure this folder isn't a part of the cause. It could be a corrupted file he downloaded."

"Kiryuu knows if a file he downloaded was corrupted or not," Will explained. "He can run those scans on himself on his own."

"But some times even those scans don't catch everything," Gordon growled back. "Check it! Open it!"

"What about Kiryuu's privacy?"

"William," Gordon began with a scowl on his face. "If that file is the thing causing Kiryuu's problems, I want to know what's in it. I don't want to loose Kiryuu over some files."

"Right," Will nodded.

Katsura sighed and turned back to her screen. Maria glanced up at Kiryuu through the glass. His face held no expression as to what was going on inside. He looked calm despite the turmoil that was happening within his system. She glanced down at her own screen, reading through the lines of code the syntech was feeding her. She scrolled down through the code, searching for any problems with the programs within Kiryuu's biosyntech. Her eyes scanned over a particular set of codes different than all the others. Her eyes widened when she began to recognize the special characters being used in the line of code before her. She grabbed a notepad and began to jot down quickly what the code said. She rummaged through the code, piecing together the code in something she could recognize.

"King Ghidorah," she read silently. "Penned…cannot move…system about to permanently shut down…free Erika." Maria leaned back, scratching her head. "Free Erika?"

She glanced over at Katsura.

"Kat," she called. "Who's Erika?"

"Erika?" Katsura asked. "Erika Munson?"

"Is that who she is?" Maria asked.

Gordon and Will began to decode the encrypted folder, peering inside the files. The various files and pictures inside the folder were all written in Japanese.

"Is this those files Kiryuu stole that one night when we were in Yokohama?" Gordon asked. "I can't believe he still has those files!"

"He probably does," began Will. "But this isn't it."

"Will, you don't read Japanese," Gordon sighed.

"Not much," Will replied. "But I can recognize a few words. Like this one. This character means 'destroyer'. And this one means 'chemical components'. What does chemical and destroyer have in common with Kiryuu?"

"What did he just recently acquire?" Gordon asked, thinking. Then his eyes lit up in realization. "Serizawa's weapon!"

The Oxygen Destroyer!" Will cried. "Gordon, these are the notes written on the Oxygen Destroyer, and how to build one. I knew that Kiryuu had them, but look at these new logs. These weren't written in 1954. These are Kiryuu's personal notes on the weapon. And this is a tally on experiments done in the base."

Gordon slapped his own head: "Kiryuu's creating an Oxygen Destroyer. Where did he get the components and where are they?"

"Gordon, anyone with the equipment you supply in or labs inside this base and with Serizawa's notes can build an Oxygen Destroyer."

"Jesus-tap dancin'-Christ!" Gordon grumbled. "I go and build a mech from the bones of the original Godzilla who died from the very weapon that same mech is now creating."

"Can you say 'irony'?" Will asked, sounding like Mr. Rogers. "I knew you could."

"Where's the lab Kiryuu's using to build this thing?" Gordon asked. "And how did this slip pass security?"

"Kiryuu…" Will sighed. He glanced through the images and the files. There were images of Kiryuu's accomplishments and failures. Though since Kiryuu was going off of notes of a device that had been made before, it made it easier and swifter to make. He had Serizawa's notes since he gained them through outside means. It cost him a few ten thousand dollars to get the hired gun Gordon remembered. He even advised Kiryuu against it, but this own harsh feelings towards the Prime Minister of Japan and his various government operated agencies got in the way of his judgment. Now he saw exactly what he feared would happen—is now happening.

"Why is Kiryuu creating this?" Gordon asked.

"Only he knows," Will sighed. He glanced down on one particular file of a tank of fishes. He clicked on the image and it pulled up a QuickTime movie. Will watched as the holographic avatar of Kiryuu walking around the tank. He held a pair of tongs in his claws and in the tongs was a silver sphere. Kiryuu leaned up over the top of the tank and dripped the tiny sphere into the water. Kiryuu knelt down, flipping a switch under the lab bench. Will leaned in and watched with great interest as the water began to fizzle up with bubbles. It looked like the water itself was boiling. And then, he saw the fish. The flesh began to peal away and dissolve, until nothing more than skeletons were left of the fish. And Kiryuu looked like he was having a conniption. The mecha braced his back against the wall, his eyes bulging out in horror as he watched the fish dissolved into skeletons. Then, Will began to realize that Kiryuu was reliving his own traumatic experience when Serizawa used the Oxygen Destroyer against him. Kiryuu appeared to be exhausted from watching the seeds of his hard labor bear fruit.

"My God," Will breathed. "We are seeing exactly how the Oxygen Destroyer works for the first time in fifty years. Gordon…"

"One of Kiryuu's own notes…" breathed Gordon as he began to read over it. "_'What I thought this weapon was and how it worked was wrong. I cannot explain how this weapon works. Perhaps upon more research I could understand more on how this weapon works, but I don't. King Ghidorah is coming and I know that I do not have the power to defeat him. This weapon, even by today's standards, is very advanced. Though following Dr. Serizawa's notes, one with only a minimum amount of knowledge in chemistry and physics can build an Oxygen Destroyer with the right components and equipment, but they would not understand completely on what they were building. Even with my great knowledge, I still don't quite grasp the full mechanics on how this weapon works.'_"

"Just like setting tab-A into slot-B," Will began. "Daizuke Serizawa must have been a scientist beyond his time to create this."

"Says here he discovered this thing by accident," said Gordon. "Then, he researched more on it to understand it." He glanced back at the still form of Kiryuu. "When we get Kiryuu fixed, he is so much trouble."

"Yep," Will nodded.

Maria glanced back at Katsura: "Who is Erika Munson?"

"Biollante," Katsura replied. "The one who now currently possess Kiryuu."

"Is she causing the problem?" Maria asked.

"No," Katsura replied. "Why?"

Maria pointed to the screen and then to her pad.

"Free Erika?" Katsura asked. "King Ghidorah? King Ghidorah is…"

She got up from her chair, her eyes widening as she realized what was wrong with Kiryuu.

"Gordon!" Katsura cried.

Gordon glanced back at her: "What?"

"I know what's happening to Kiryuu," said Katsura. "Just like what Biollante did to him nearly two years ago, King Ghidorah is doing the same thing."

"We don't even know where he is," Gordon replied.

"Gordon," began Maria. "Kiryuu is trying to contact us. He said that if we free Erika, she might be able to defend Kiryuu against King Ghidorah."

"Okay," Will sighed. "Even if we go with this insane idea, how the hell do we free her?"

"Kiryuu set up the block," began Katsura. "With the help of Manda. With all of his internal system weakened, we might be able to free her."

"Kiryuu says to hurry," Maria said. "He says that his systems are about to shut down."

"That's it," began Will. "Shut down Kiryuu completely and revert his system to their original start-up mode. It'll even stop the hacking."

"What about freeing Erika?" Maria asked.

"A total shut down should free her as well," said Will. "And it might stop King Ghidorah's attack."

"Will we loose anything—like Kiryuu himself?" Gordon asked.

"No," Will replied. "Everything that has to do with Kiryuu's memory, personality, and individuality is backed up."

"What about the information on the Oxygen Destroyer?" Gordon asked.

"We shouldn't loose it too," said Will. "I'll back it up just in case."

He glanced up at Kiryuu and sighed as he shook his head.

"I think removing the CPU from its casing might be best as well," said Will. "But first, I'm going to shut him down."

"Can you do that from out here?" asked Maria.

Will went back to his workstation and began to command the robotic arms around the bay area without a reply to Maria's question. He commanded the arms to swing around towards the back of Kiryuu's head.

"I don't care how powerful a hacker or psychic we're dealing with," he began as the arms pulled the AI out from the back of the slot. "You can't mess with a removal."

The arms swung around again and set the beach ball-sized sphere down towards an awaiting dolly and three awaiting technicians wearing clean room suits, gloves, and respirators.

"Get Kiryuu to the clean room for maintenance," Will called to them. "And for virus purging."

Maria swallowed as she listened in.

"When I get down there," Will continued. "We'll start to take the AI apart for diagnosis."

"Wait," Maria began. "T—take Kiryuu apart. Will that kill him? Will it hurt Katsura?"

"Kat?" Will asked. Katsura smiled and placed the plug back into her data jack.

"It won't kill him like it won't hurt your own PC if I took it apart in order to fix it," Will replied. "I've done it before when Kiryuu complained about dust clogging in one of the memory slots. And I've added and removed bits of his AI before upgrades." Will took out a memory chip from his pocket. The memory chip was a long, thin piece of hardware with a set of fine teeth running along one side. "This was a memory chip that burned out inside Kiryuu's CPU. See that warped piece at the edge? Kiryuu complained that his random access memory was acting up. His processing power wasn't kicking out the juice he needed. I took Kiryuu's CPU apart and found this burned out chip. I ordered a new one and stuck it in and put Kiryuu back together and he works fine. I even upgraded the RAM with the new chip. Kiryuu said he felt refreshed after the operation. Operating on Kiryuu's brain is a lot easier than a human's brain. Now, I'm going to find what this 'King Ghidorah' damaged and I'm going to fix it. And if I can't, I'll replace it."

"What about Biollante?" asked Maria.

"I might find her too," Will shrugged.

"Find her and remove her," Gordon growled. "We've put that off for too long."

"Sure thing," Will said. "I'll be in the clean room. Don't worry about it, Maria. Kiryuu's gonna be fine."

He walked out of the control room and headed for the clean room prep station to put his gear on. Maria sighed again and sat down on the chair. Katsura sat down beside her and placed a comforting arm around her.

"Will knows what he's doing," she said. "This can be fixed."

"I keep forgetting that Kiryuu's still a computer," Maria sniffed, feeling a tear roll down her cheek. "He's not human…"

"He's a machine," said Gordon. "Sentient, but still a machine. He's still wires, screws, chips, nuts, and bolts—and silicon. And just like any other computer, he can be fixed."

"I hope William will be able to fix him," Maria sighed.

Io silently peeked around the corner as she saw the men dressed in white clean room jumpers and masks quietly rolled a dolly down the hall. She saw on that dolly a gleaming black sphere the size of a beach ball roll down in between the men. The ball had strange wires growing out from the top and the spaces between the panels on its surface glowed an electric, deep blue. The glow of the sphere gave her a dreadful shudder as she saw it pass. She peered around and watched as the men with the dolly disappeared behind a restricted door.

A hand touched her back and she swung around, letting lose a startled yelp. It was Katsura. Io glanced up at her as she leaned in and hugged her.

"I know that I've never seen it," Io began. "But I have a feeling that's Kiryuu's brain."

"It is his brain," Katsura said.

"What's happened?"

"I don't know," Katsura replied. She knew, but she could not bring herself to say what it was. "Will is going to fix him. He's good with that."

Io leaned in again, feeling a slight worried sob tickle her throat. Katsura held her close, rubbing her back comfortingly.

"Don't worry, Io-chan," began Katsura. "We've removed Kiryuu's CPU a thousand times before, even spoken to him in that state."

"I'm just afraid he might die," sobbed Io.

"Kiryuu's not going to die," said Katsura. "He's going to be fine. If you like, you can talk to him when will's is finished. I think Kiryuu will like to know you've been worried about him. He cares about you very much."

Io nodded and bowed. Katsura sighed and gazed fearfully at the door into the clean room. She was very worried about the conflict going on inside Kiryuu's virtual mind. Whatever this being who called himself King Ghidorah was doing to Kiryuu, it was damaging to the AI's system. She hoped that Kiryuu would not come out of this lobotomized.

He pressed against Kiryuu's personality protocols, squeezing the virtual spirit harder. He was enraged that the humans managed to disconnect Kiryuu from the Internet grid. And Kiryuu just chuckled. Will game through for him and disconnected the link.

_I suppose your technician thinks it'll be easy to get rid of me, _King Ghidorah growled.

"It is illogical for you to continue to force me into controlling something I cannot," Kiryuu rumbled.

_He's right! _Called Biollante. _Let him go._

"I cannot give you what you desire," Kiryuu said. King Ghidorah began to consider this as she slowly let up off of Kiryuu. Kiryuu let loose a great sigh, feeling the pressure lift up from his processors. King Ghidorah leaned back as he began to sense the humans beginning the procedures of taking the AI's CPU apart.

_You are free now, _King Ghidorah hissed as his consciousness left Kiryuu's processors. _But we are not finished with this._

When the space dragon was gone, Biollante turned to Kiryuu.

_You told them to free me, _she began. _Why?_

"You have abilities that I do not possess," Kiryuu replied. "I could never how your powers."

_So, you need me_, Biollante grinned.

"Yes, I need you, Erika," Kiryuu solemnly smiled back. "Can I trust you?"

_Yes, _Biollante replied quickly without thought in the question's meaning.

"I'm serious, Erika," Kiryuu said. "King Ghidorah is no laughing matter. I need to know if I can rely on you to aid me in defeating him. If I fail and King Ghidorah wins, I will die. He will kill me and with you inside of me, you'll die too."

Biollante leaned back away from the bars of her prison and scratched her head. She knew the seriousness of this situation. She also knew that in many ways there was no hope in Kiryuu winning this fight—that is unless he uses the Oxygen Destroyer. After all, it was she who convinced him to build the weapon. Biollante saw how Kiryuu hid the information, stacking it under a mound of encryptions. Why would he want the information on such a weapon if he had not intentions on using it? Of course there had to be a dire reason why he would resort into using a powerful and devastating weapon. King Ghidorah was a dire reason well on his own. And she convinced him to create it. Though, Kiryuu had a feeling deep down inside that having a weapon he knew that could more like take King Ghidorah down than any other weapon he had installed would give him an advantage. And that was why he made two.

"I need to know if I can count on you, Erika," Kiryuu continued.

_You can, _she replied. Kiryuu stared deeply into the plant-gator's dark violet eyes. This was the first time he had ever seen a sincere expression on her face.

_I'm serious, _Biollante said. _After I saw what he made you do, I know now that King Ghidorah is no laughing matter. And I don't want to die._

"I don't either," Kiryuu said. "I died once, I don't want to go through that again."

He waved his claw when he sensed Will begin to take the spherical casing off of the CPU. Biollante glanced around as the bars around her disappeared. She was free. She wanted so much to play with him like she did once before. But she could wait until King Ghidorah was gone to play with him again.

"Come here," Kiryuu rumbled. "I can protect you from Will."

Biollante moved towards him as Kiryuu's virtual syntech sprouted from his body. He enveloped her in the silvery vines, holding her close to him. She grinned as she felt his protective warmth around her body. At last, she got part of what she wanted from him. She got him to hold her. Her reptilian form shifted until she was her human self and leaned her head against Kiryuu's metallic chest. And for the first time, Kiryuu actually felt compelled to hold her close, comforting her and to protect her. And they stood there in the darkness of the shut-down as Will began to take the AI apart.


	5. Golden Gate Rumble

Golden Gate Rumble 

Manda rose himself out of the ocean and shook the salty water off of his scales. He glanced around the beach, his eyes opening and closing slowly as he glanced around, each of his three pairs of lids blinking out the salt. He coiled himself and laid himself down on the sand, waiting patiently for _her _to arrive. His brilliantly colored, rainbow fins flattened out slight as he felt the wind around him rise up. He let loose a deep rumble when he heard the sound of a pair of enormous wings beat and grow louder as the creature came closer.

_The wind is changing, _began a soft voice to him.

"I know, Mothra," Manda replied. "He's getting very close."

_He has already attacked Kiryuu, _said Mothra as her great form landed before him.

"That is why I came here," he began. "I need your help in defending Kiryuu."

_There is no need, _Mothra said. _His friends are helping him. King Ghidorah has released his grip on Kiryuu's mind._

That's good," said Manda. "About King Ghidorah."

_You feel the need in battling him yourself, Manda? _Asked the great moth. Mothra shifter her position and folded her front arms.

"I feel that I should be allowed to be involved because of the injustice brought upon Kraken," Manda growled. "King Ghidorah tricked him."

_This fight must be fought by Kiryuu and Godzilla alone, Manda, _Mothra sighed.

Manda growled again, flickers and sparks of lightning appeared around the corners of his jaws. Mothra felt the charge in the air as the wind picked up and the sky itself rumbled angrily, mirroring fierceness of Manda's mood.

_Still, Manda, _Mothra commanded sharply. _This is my decision. I'm sorry._

Manda calmed down and the angry sky cleared. Mothra turned her head towards the ocean and stared out. She sensed the movements of the two creature heading towards the east.

_Ah, they are awake, _she said.

"Angilus and Rodan," said Manda. "Will they have to fight King Ghidorah?"

_No, _Mothra replied. _They are not strong enough._

"Why are they going towards America?"

_You first guess is the correct one, _said Mothra. _Kiryuu is the reason why they are heading to the West Coast. Godzilla told them about him._

"He must have gloated about his father to them," Manda chuckled.

_Godzilla has conflicting emotions about his father,_ Mothra said.

"And Kiryuu still has conflicting emotions about himself," said Manda. "He is two people, the original Godzilla and the AI once called K-I. Though he leans over towards being K-I, I believe parts of the original Godzilla does come through. He can't be the father Godzilla wants because of this."

Mothra nodded and followed the two dinosaurs' path as they made their way to the West Coast.

_You may follow them to the West Coast to see what will happen if you like, _she said.

"Yes," said Manda. "I'd like to see this." He glanced up at the sky again. "When will _he _arrive?"

_Within the next two days, _Mothra replied.

"I hope Kiryuu will be ready," Manda sighed as he leaped into the ocean again.

Mothra glanced up into the sky: _As do I._

"Whoa!" cried Tochi as he perked up at the sound of the sirens. "Hey, Mick!"

Mike Ginsburg glanced up from his hotrod magazine. He leaned over, staring at the screen as two blips made their way towards the West Coast. He brought up the reading from Lotus I, the Foundation's satellite. These blips were not Godzilla.

"That's not Godzilla," said Mike.

"No, shit, Sherlock," Tochi snorted.

"What is it?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know?" asked Tochi. "Call Will and tell him he needs to get Kiryuu ready. He needs to get back into his body."

"Will!' Mike called over the PA system. "We've got monster movement going on. Is Kiryuu ready?"

Down in the clean room, Will was just putting Kiryuu's mind back together. He and his assistants were cleaning all the panels, making sure that the parts were free from dust before they reconnected them.

"Yeah?" asked Will. "We're putting the processors back into the sphere frame. Then, we'll be ready to put the casing back on."

"There's two of them," said Tochi. "They look like they're heading for San Francisco."

"Is one of them Godzilla?" asked Will.

"No," Mike replied. "Lotus isn't picking up any radiation from them. I don't know what they are. Lotus is uploading some images of the two monsters. We'll be able to identify them once we have a visual."

"Come on, guys," said Will. "Let's get this done as quickly, but as carefully as possible. I don't want any mistakes because we're rushed for time."

"Yes, sir," the assistants replied in unison.

Taking Kiryuu's AI apart was easier than putting it back together. Will and his team had to make sure everything fit snuggly and correctly together in their proper slots. It was essential that everything was done in a timely manner to ensure startup success. As soon as they pieced together the last component, Will carefully placed the spherical casing around the Central Processing Unit. Then, with a press off a button, Will switched the AI on, connecting it to a speaker for communication.

"Kiryuu?" he asked. "Hey, pal, you okay?"

"Will?" came a rather deep and handsome voice from the speaker.

"Oh, thank God!" Will laughed. "Man, you scared the piss out of me. We all thought you were shut down for good!"

"No," I'm not dead yet," Kiryuu replied. "It'll take a lot more than some electronic fluctuation to bring me down. I knew that I could count on you to fix me."

"Glad to hear your voice again," Will sighed in complete relief. All of this stress clichéd up every muscle in his body. Hearing Kiryuu's calm, dark, and pleasant voice relaxed him and he settled down on the chair. Kiryuu could sense just how worried his programmer was by the sound of Will's voice. And with some of the sensors attached to the sphere, he could see how stressfully exhausted and exasperated the whole situation was to Will Penter.

"Will," began Kiryuu. "It's good to hear your voice."

"Come on, buddy," said Will. "Let's get you back into your body. There's two monsters heading to San Francisco. Don't worry, Godzilla isn't with them."

"He knows better," Kiryuu said. "I thought him well."

Will, with some aid from one of his assistants, lifted the CPU up and placed it down on the dolly again.

"Oh, Katsura said that Io wants to see you before I put you back into your body," said Will as he began to roll Kiryuu out.

"Io was worried about me too?" asked Kiryuu.

"Everyone in the whole building was!" said Will. He took off his cleaning room clothes and tossed them into a special hamper. He rolled Kiryuu's AI down the hall until he saw Katsura and Io come around the corner. Will rolled Kiryuu's AI over to Io and Katsura, smiling triumphantly. Because Katsura blocked her link from Kiryuu, could not sense what all happened during the operation.

"Will," began Katsura. "Is he…"

"Hello, Katsura," Kiryuu began. Katsura ran towards him, wrapping her arms around the sphere and hugging it in a tight, relieved embrace. Io grinned, approaching the CPU.

"Io," Kiryuu continued, his attention turned towards her.

"Hello, Kiryuu-san," Io smiled back.

"I hear that you were worried about me," Kiryuu's voice grinned at her.

"Hai," Io nodded.

"Come here, Io," Kiryuu began. "Don't worry about me. Everything will be fine."

"You're not sick anymore, Kiryuu-san?" she asked.

"No," Kiryuu replied, his voice keeping a perpetual smile to its tone. "I'm fine. Will and his team have fixed me."

"That's good," said Io.

"Come on," said Will. "I need to get Kiryuu back into his body."

Io leaned over and carefully placed one of the sensors of the AI into her hand. Kiryuu rumbled pleasantly when he felt her hand. It was wonderful to have external input again flowing through his processors. She backed away just as Will pushed the dolly down the hall.

"Kiryuu," began Will. "I might want to warn you. Gordon is pissed-off at you."

"What for?"

"You're building an Oxygen Destroyer, Kiryuu," Will said. "That's a good enough reason."

"I see," Kiryuu's voice turned grim.

"Kiryuu…" sighed Will. "Why are you building this weapon?"

"I don't know if I can destroy King Ghidorah," Kiryuu began. "I don't think that even the AZC will help."

"Gordon can beef up your weapon systems," said Will.

"It's not going to be enough," Kiryuu droned.

Will shook his head and sighed as he pushed the dolly into the control room. Io and Katsura followed Will as he went into the control room. There Gordon and Maria joined them as Will pushed the sphere into the room.

"Kiryuu Knight," Gordon growled, his arms crossed against his chest. "Tell me, what is this?"

He pointed at the frozen picture of Kiryuu activating the Oxygen Destroyer in the tank. Kiryuu took in a virtual breath and looked up at Gordon.

"It is necessary," he said.

"The Oxygen Destroyer—a necessary thing?" Gordon asked. "Why?"

"My weapons won't be enough to destroy King Ghidorah," Kiryuu replied.

"I can beef up…"

"It's not enough," Kiryuu interrupted.

Gordon sighed as he sat down on the chair: "It's not enough."

"Gordon," began Will. "As much as we'd love to discuss this…"

"I know," he said. "We have a monster problem. Will, put Kiryuu back into his head."

Maria stood up and approached the AI sphere very slowly.

"Maria," Kiryuu rumbled deeply.

Maria just shook her head, reaching out to the sphere to touch it. Still, in her mind, she could not quite equate that this being before her was still a computer. She knew in her mind logically that it was, but in her heart, she could not accept him as a machine. She came close to the sphere and laid her hand on its smooth surface.

"Maria…" Kiryuu rumbled again, his voice going even deeper giving, his tone giving way to longing.

"You're okay," she breathed, completely baffled, and though reassured that he was well. "Kiryuu…"

"I'm fine," Kiryuu rumbled again, his voice letting off a soft purr when he spoke as she caressed the surface of the sphere. She leaned in, laying her head against the AI's casing. She knew it was him, even if the AI was nothing more than a sphere. It was still Kiryuu.

"Maria," began Will. "I gotta put his brain back in its body."

"I'm sorry," Maria corrected herself as she lifted up off of the casing.

"_Está bien,"_ Kiryuu purred back at her.

"_Mi Kiryuu,"_ Maria smiled as Will positioned the sphere for the robotic arms to lifted it back up again. He disconnected the speaker from the sphere as Gordon commanded the arms, picking up the AI and placing it back into the slot behind Mechagodzilla's head. The enormous mecha turned on and the eyes flew opened. Kiryuu, finally back into his body, let loose a powerful yawn, stretching his maw wide open, showing off his gleaming, pearly white fangs. He stretched his neck out, rolling it around and wiggled his fingers and his toes. It felt wonderful to be back in his body again. He leaned down to his human overseers with a broad grin on his mouth.

"Kiryuu," began Gordon. "I'll discuss with you later about this weapon. But right now, we need you to be prepared to engage these two monsters."

"What are they?" Kiryuu asked.

"We're pulling up a vector on them now," said Will. "And a visual. Lotus has their images stored."

Kiryuu closed his eyes and began to download the information from Lotus I. The images flowed through his processors. They were blurry at first, but Kiryuu quickly enhanced them as he gathered them up. There, he saw the two creatures heading towards the West Coast. One was an armadillo looking creature with huge spikes running along its back, and the other looked like an enormous bird with broad wings. Kiryuu quickly ran through the database listing of various monsters that had appeared before he became a cybernetic automaton and after. He ran across a match for the two monsters and found the names the humans have given them.

"These creatures are Angilus and Rodan," Kiryuu replied.

"Angilus and Rodan?" Gordon asked. "Are they new?"

"They wouldn't be in my database if they were," said Kiryuu. "No, these monsters have surfaced before, but not as frequent as Godzilla. Atomic tests made them large, but that is all."

"They don't have any special weapons?" Will asked.

"No," Kiryuu replied. "No other abilities are listed, but Rodan has the ability to create a supersonic screech so powerful that it can cause electronic hardware to fail. Though, he is only able to do this when in flight. Angilus just has a thick outer shell and those spikes. But no particular energy weapon like Godzilla and I."

"Well, they are posing a threat," Gordon said. "Go after them anyways. Mount the back unit on him, and fully charge his cannons."

"Gordon," began Kiryuu. "About my maser cannons…"

"Can you reproduce that plasma beam?" Gordon asked.

"Yes," Kiryuu replied. "I can."

"How do you know?"

"I just do," he shrugged.

Gordon sighed: "Fine. But I'm sending you out with your other weapons as well."

"Yes, Gordon," Kiryuu nodded.

"When will they be in San Francisco?" Gordon asked.

"Within five hours," Will replied, getting a reading from the satellite. He glanced down at the screen, seeing the estimated time on the left corner. Just then, the screen began to flicker. The time changed. "No, wait, now it's saying 2 hours." The screen flickered again. "Now 10 hours. What the hell?"

Gordon glanced over at the screen, seeing the flickering and the change in ETA times. Will's fingers swiftly flew across the keyboard, trying to find the glitch that was in the system.

"Gordon," began Kiryuu. "I'm getting static feedback from Lotus. Something is disrupting the feed."

"Great," Gordon sighed. "More problems."

"Kiryuu," began Will. "Disconnect your ties to Lotus so it won't affect your systems as well."

"Compliance," Kiryuu replied as he disconnected from Lotus. Will's eyes widened just as the monitors clicked off, becoming black. He reached down and restarted the system, bringing the monitors back on line. His fingers once more glided over the keyboard as he tried to bring the feed back. He found that there was no signal coming from the satellite.

"Fuck!" Will cried, throwing his pen against the computer in frustration. "Damn, you piece of junk!"

"Will!" cried Katsura. "Don't cuss around Io!"

Katsura quickly covered the little girl's ears and gave an accusing stare back at the computer programmer.

"Sorry," Will sighed. "Wait…she doesn't know English."

"What happened?" Gordon asked.

"Lotus…" Will began. "There's no feed. I can't even tap into the satellite's CPU. It's like Lotus is gone."

Kiryuu closed his eyes and concentrated. He tried to contact any other satellite that was in the area, military, private, or commercial. He managed to tap into a commercial satellite, and focused his energies in getting a reading from that satellite. He growled when he found that he could not tap into Lotus from the other satellite, but he found that he could not even do that. It was as if Lotus was no longer there.

"Nothing," he sighed. "I can't contact Lotus."

"What about our other satellites?" asked Maria.

"They're not configured the same way as Lotus," Kiryuu replied. "Some one is purposely blinding me. And I think I know who it is."

"Never mind that," Gordon waved his head in a dismissal. "Will, where can we get the information about how close Angilus and Rodan are to the West Coast?"

"Well, the army might have an ETA," Will said. "I can call them up."

"Make it quick!" barked Gordon. "And get me an aspirin. My head hurts!"

Will opened a phone line and began to dial out to the nearest army base.

"Yes, hello," he began. "This is Will Penter from Utah Foundation Site Alpha Base. Could I speak to Colonel Sparks please? Yes, I'll hold."

Maria handed Gordon an aspirin and a glass of water as Will waited for an answer on the other line. He ran his fingers through his white hair, shaking his head. Kiryuu closed his eyes again as the technicians began to attach the back unit onto his spines and rearming him with his forearm cannons. Above, the arms came down and snapped on his helm and faceplate over his face and his green, fleshy dreads whirled back to their protective spots under his armor, reattaching themselves to the back unit and the forearm cannons. The golden optics flashed brightly and the red tear lights flickered on, signally the helm was properly connected to Kiryuu's head. He opened his eyes again, feeling that the procedures were completed.

"Hello, Colonel Sparks?" began Will. "Yes, this is Mr. Penter. Yeah…uh, sorry about that we had a malfunction in the base, our whole system just crashed due to some sort of electromagnetic disturbance. Right, well, he didn't do it deliberately. I know—right, I understand. I know—you took over Levi's headache…"

"Mr. Penter," began Sparks over the phone. "I'm easier than General Garrison. And I know what Kiryuu is, hell I even met him myself last week when I was assigned to monitor him. I find that he's a decent fellow to get along with. Now, I've been diligent in trying to keep his secret out of the eyes of the public, and the government itself, but this is pulling a little more than I can give. I don't want to get you all in trouble for that hacking attack you did to my base…"

"Did he attack any other base?" Will asked.

"No," said Sparks. "I've called down to the other base, trying to make it sound like just an inquiry—and not pointing any fingers at anyone in particular—they said that there haven't been any other attacks. Actually, just before the attack ended, there was a note from Kiryuu. He wanted to apologize for the attack and that the attack was not on purpose. Then, he stated that the attack was to get information that he knew that he could never have access to."

"Did the note say what he was looking for?" Will asked.

Sparks glanced through the files: "No. Just that short note. The attack happened so fast that none of my boys could tell what Kiryuu was after. What's going on?"

"Kiryuu says the attack was caused by some hacker going into his systems," said Will. "He said that the attacker was trying to use him. The attacker called himself King Ghidorah. And now, our warning satellite is malfunctioning and there's two monsters heading for the West Coast."

"I thought Kiryuu's system as the toughest in the world to break," Sparks began.

"They are," said Will. "But that don't mean that someone can't find a way to hack into him. There's still that possibility."

Sparks sighed, shaking his head.

"I like you guys," he said. "I really do. But I'm going out on a limb on trying to keep this under the rug."

"You don't know how much we appreciate this," said Will. "All I can say is shit happens."

"Yes, well, when shit does happen…" began Sparks. "It lands in both our laps. And we have to clean it up."

"I need your help, here," began Will. "Can you track the monsters that are heading towards the West Coast?"

"Yeah," Sparks replied. He pulled the information up on his screen, finding that two subs have been dispatched to their location. So far, the flying one is too fast for the planes to catch up and get a clear shot at it, and the one swimming is a bit tough to destroy."

"How long do you think it'll take for them to get to the West Coast?"

"I've got an ETA at about two hours," said Sparks. "Your satellite couldn't track them because of the malfunction?"

"It did at first," said Will. "But then it failed. We can't track them since the malfunction. I don't know what happened."

"You better hurry and get to the spot," said Sparks. "Looks like their destination is San Francisco."

"That's what we figured," said Will.

"Any idea as to why they're heading here?"

"I have no idea," Will sighed.

Sparks chuckled: "I thought you guys were supposed to be the monster experts."

"No, we're the Godzilla experts," Will said. "These two monsters haven't been since sense the early 60s."

"Well, you know more about them than we do," said Sparks. "Any idea as to what they are?"

"Kiryuu pulled that information up," Will replied. "They're called Angilus and Rodan. The one with the spikes on its back is Angilus and Rodan is the one in the air."

"When do you think Kiryuu will be ready to face them?" Sparks asked.

"We're mounting his weapons up now," said Will. "Just tell who ever is over the defending of the West Coast that Kiryuu's on his way."

"Will do," said Sparks. "I'll inform General Ester on this."

Will backed away from the computer console and took in a breath of relaxation. He turned back towards Gordon and nodded.

"Sparks said they'll be there in 2 hours," he said. "We need to get Kiryuu up attached to the long range jets."

"Call the White Herons," Gordon ordered. "Get Mai on the phone. Kiryuu's all set up from here."

"Right," said Will. "Kiryuu…"

"Let's do it," said Mechagodzilla. "All systems green!"

"Launch!" Gordon backed.

Katsura sat down at the console, handing Io over to Maria. She placed her headset on her head and glanced over at Will, who was contacting the Shirisagi VTOL jets. The body arms opened up around Kiryuu as the pedestal he stood upon lifted him up towards the opening bay doors above. He cleared the bay, his body ending up in the large parking lot above. Above him were the VTOL jets, extending their wires down and connecting up to him. Kiryuu closed his eyes just as he felt himself being lift up off the ground. Gordon sighed just as he saw Kiryuu lift off into the sky, heading for the west. He glanced back over at the images of the Oxygen Destroyer before him. Gordon laid his hand on the screen, his eyes showing his concern for what his creation had created. Kiryuu dared to do it, even against his creator, he dared to recreate Serizawa's weapon.

_You promised me you would not create this weapon for yourself, Kiryuu, _he sighed. _I've known you to lie before, but this time—I can't forgive you for this._

He glanced back at the empty bay area, trying to collect his thoughts on what he was going to tell Kiryuu once the mecha returns from his fight.

Manda raised his head up out of the ocean, shaking the saltwater from his frills. He ducked his head back under the water and slid through the waves silently. He knew that there were two submarines in the area and why they were there. Swimming not far from him was Angilus and flying above Angilus was Rodan. He sensed that they had not made any motions to attack the submarines in the water nor the aircraft following them, though the military had done what they can to try and drive them away. Manda slipped once more out of the water and onto the beach a short ways from the two oncoming monsters, his form shifting back into his human shape. Marx glanced up, hearing the sounds of the roaring engines as the fighter jets screeched on by, engaging Rodan in a frantic dogfight. Rodan swooped and swerved, dodging their missile attacks. Angilus just kept swimming towards the city, his tough hide protecting him from the submarines. The ankylosaur glanced up as he sensed something coming out of the east. Then, he saw it, flying through the air with two jets flying along side of it. It looked like Godzilla, but it was silver. Angilus called to Rodan, whose eyes turned towards the new adversary that appeared out of the sky. It looked like Godzilla.

Angilus bellowed out at Rodan, warning him about the new adversary. Once Rodan saw who it was, he sensed a familiar kinship. The scent was very similar to Godzilla's own. That shiny creature was the father.

It's his father! It's his father!

Angilus paused in astonishment as he watched Mechagodzilla slowly land on the beach before them. Godzilla was right, the father had changed much under the care of the humans.

Marx glanced back at the two dinosaurs and then back to Kiryuu as he stood there silently waiting for them to come at him.

_That's all they came here for, _Marx thought. _Kiryuu was why the came here. Look at them; they're just standing there!_

"Why aren't they attacking?" Marx heard a man cry.

Rodan landed only shin-deep in the water, just staring in aghast at the metallic being before him. Marx watched as Kiryuu turned his head slightly. He could sense a puzzlement going on inside the bio-mech's mind.

Kiryuu was completely dumbfounded. As soon as he arrived, the two other monsters ceased their attack. And now, they were just standing there staring at him. For once, he lowered his guard, lowering his arms to his sides. Neither Angilus nor Rodan made any sudden moves to attack him. Kiryuu glanced over, seeing a division of the Army waiting alongside him, ready to strike at the monsters. He made a gesture at them, his hand motioning to lower their weapons. General Ester who was in charged of this division also knew of Kiryuu's sentient mind. He knew this from Colonel Sparks, who was a good friend of his. The moment he saw that gesture from Mechagodzilla, he told his men not to fire, but to be on their guard.

Kiryuu slowly began to detach his exterior weaponry, lying them softly down on the beach. And then, he took of the helm, pulling his dreads free from their confinement. Still, he made no movements in approaching them. And still, they stared.

Angilus looked over at his companion and rumbled to him.

"_They did bring his father back to life. Look, the eyes."_

"_The eyes. He's all covered in metal. It's him, it's really him. Let's go back. That's all we wanted to see. Let's just go back."_

Angilus snorted: _"Why? I want to know if he is as strong as the 'hatchling' says he is."_

"_Maybe you can just ask him," _Rodan squawked.

"_Ask him?" _

"_Ask him!" _Rodan repeated.

Angilus glanced away and shook his head.

"_Alright, I'll ask him!" _Rodan sighed. _"Hey! Strange-Eyes! Are you as strong as your son says you are?"_

Marx chuckled, understanding those squawks. But Kiryuu's expression turned to surprise when he understood the squawks.

"_What?" _Kiryuu bellowed back.

_They came here because of you, Kiryuu, _hissed a voice into his head. Kiryuu glanced back behind him, his eyes narrowing when he saw the glowing image of King Ghidorah. He knew that no one else could see the dragon because he sensed it was a projection. Kiryuu knew it was pointless to even attack this apparition.

"_You have a son, right?" _Rodan squawked.

"_Yes, the humans call him Godzilla," _Kiryuu replied.

"_Are you as strong as he says you are?" _he asked.

Kiryuu glanced down at the army platoon. Kiryuu's eyes single out General Ester and his comment was directed towards him.

"General Ester," he began. "It appears that the monsters have come to see me."

"Excuse me?" Ester asked.

"If you don't mind," Kiryuu began with a huff. "I am going to lead them away from here. Tell the submarines to back off their attack and allow them passage. They want to talk to me."

"I'm holding you on this, Mr. Knight," Ester growled. "Sparks might have confidence in you, but I beg to differ."

"Your statement has been noted," Kiryuu coolly replied back as he pulled off his armored gloves. He looked slightly back over his shoulder when he heard the deep, sinister chuckle coming from King Ghidorah. Kiryuu said nothing to the ghostly image that he could only see as he leapt up into the air. He undressed one of his forearms, exposing the silvery and blue metallic synthetic muscle system underneath. There was a reason why he exposed his syntech. He knew that just in case he had to fight these monsters, he would need a weapon besides his speed and strength to assist him. Rodan bounded into the air, spraying water as he flapped his great wings. Kiryuu glanced down at Angilus silently and then pointing at him.

"_You and you," _his finger shifted from Angilus to Rodan. _"Come with me."_

"_Why?" _Angilus asked.

"_If you wish to speak to me," _Kiryuu replied. _"We will do it away from the humans. If you have spoken to my son, then you have heard his warnings on not approaching the human lands. Now, come with me. Or do you want me to demonstrate why my son was right?"_

Kiryuu lead the two monsters away, flying for a lonely, stony island with an old, almost crumbling looking building on its rocks. The island was Alcatraz. Kiryuu landed on the rocky slopes and Rodan landed beside him. Angilus pulled himself up out of the ocean, climbing up on the rocks. Rodan softly crawled over to the bio-mecha, the claw on his wing poking at the exposed arm.

"_Why have you come?" _Kiryuu asked, pulling his arm away from the large bird-like creature.

"_Your son said you died," _Angilus began. _"Then he said the humans brought you back to life."_

"_Is that why?" _Kiryuu growled. _"You wanted to see if his father was some sort of undead freak?"_

"_No!" _Rodan retorted defensively. _"It's just that…"_

"_What?"_

"_King Ghidorah is coming back," _Rodan chirped solemnly.

Kiryuu could do nothing else but nod.

"_If you really are his father," _Angilus began. _"Then, you would remember what happened then. You would remember that we are all that's left of our families."_

"_I remember," _Kiryuu replied. _"I got that much of my memories back since the humans turned me into this. So, you come to call upon me? Do you think I'm some sort of hero to you? I never heard any of us looking for heroes. Back then, it was every creature for himself, especially when King Ghidorah came. And because of that mentality, I watched my mate and my children die."_

"_We're not asking for protection," _Angilus growled. _"We're asking you if you can defeat King Ghidorah."_

"_Just out of context, or out of curiosity?"_

"_Curiosity," _Rodan shrugged. _"We never met someone from the undead before. Perhaps death does not apply to you and that means that King Ghidorah won't be able to kill you."_

"_So, that's what you see," _Kiryuu growled. _"I am an undead freak to you. That's what my sons sees as well."_

_That does hurt you, doesn't it?_ Kiryuu snorted when he heard that voice in his head again. It was not Biollante.

_Leave him be! _That was Biollante. _He's my play toy, not yours!_

_Yes, that's right, I'm her plaything, _Kiryuu thought with a roll of his eyes.

_Not right now…_King Ghidorah chuckled. Kiryuu's head began to pound with pain and he raised his claws up to his brow.

_You controlled the son…I shall control the father…_

Kiryuu's lips curled up in a feral snarl and his eyes narrowed. His claw shot out and gripped Angilus' stumpy throat tightly. He rose up from his seat and lifted the armadillo-like dinosaur up off the ground. Rodan's eyes blinked in confusion and shock as he watched his companion squirm in the tight, air-clenching grip of the biomechanical dinosaur.

"_Hey, what are you doing?" _Rodan squawked.

Kiryuu growled again, glancing back at Rodan as the bird took off, flapping his wings. He latched himself onto Kiryuu's back, thrusting his beak at the back of his neck and pecking at him. Kiryuu let go of Angilus, only to hold him down with his foot. He tossed the bird off of his shoulder. Angilus reared back and bit into Kiryuu's shin, latching on tightly with his fangs. Kiryuu just glanced down with little thought to the bite against his metallic plating. Angilus latched his claws onto Kiryuu's metal plating, trying to tear it off. Rodan got up off the ground flew straight for the bio-mecha. Kiryuu glanced up and reacted swiftly, dodging nimbly away from the attacking pteranodon. Angilus got up off the ground and charged straight for Kiryuu. Kiryuu swiftly swung around and knocked the dinosaur off his feet with a bat from his tail. Angilus flew back over the beach and dove into the water. Kiryuu turned back to Rodan, who made another swoop to attack him. Kiryuu grinned darkly as he leaned back, allowing the speedy bird to pass over him. He grabbed the tail of Rodan and jerked him to the ground.

"_A freak!" _Kiryuu bellowed. _"An undead monstrosity! Let me show you just how freaky this mobile sideshow can get!"_

"_We didn't call you a freak!" _Rodan squawked, clawing the ground as Kiryuu dragged him closer to him.

Kiryuu grabbed the throat of the bird and turned him around so that he could face his attacker. The biomechanical pulled his exposed arm back, opening up his claw. The sides of the syntech forearm began to spout out with silvery, lengthy tendrils, their tips fashioning into piercing blades. Kiryuu's fingers began to sprout out longer, the tips of his fingers slandering out into sharp, thin, gleaming blades.

"_Is this freaky enough for you?"_

_That is it, Kiryuu…_King Ghidorah chuckled. _That's it. Spill his blood on the rocks!_

_Kiryuu! _Biollante cried. _You're not a cold-blooded killer! Let him go!_

Kiryuu shook his head and snarled, fighting against the two voices in his mind. He hesitated, pulling his blades away.

_What are you doing? _King Ghidorah roared. _Finish it!_

Kiryuu pulled away from the bird and got up off the ground, backing off. His eyes closed as he felt a heat build up inside his throat. He heard a buzzing sound come from his back, the sound of a power station, or a semiconductor charging up. And he could feel the heat fluctuate on his back.

_On second thought, do that, _King Ghidorah said with a sinister guffaw. _Oh, yes, do just that. Roast him like a piece of turkey!_

Rodan's golden eyes widened just as the violet-white heat exploded out of the cyborg's mouth. The scaly bird flapped his wings, trying to right himself to leap back into the sky. He could feel the heat on his back just as he leapt into the air. Kiryuu swung his head up; the blast of his hot jet caught the bird as he flew away. Rodan screamed out in pain as the blast burned his backside, setting fire to his broad wings. But he continued to fly away, despite the pain and the heat. Kiryuu felt the heat subside and he staggered back in shock at what he had done. And then, he felt King Ghidorah leave him, chuckling again. He glanced over, seeing a back full of spines dive under the water again, disappearing under the waves. Kiryuu shook his head, not quite remembering just what he did. He sighed, sitting down on the rocks near the prison. Resting his head on his claw, Kiryuu began to think back at what made him attack the two monsters. He did his job, though. He did exactly what he was told to do. He defended the humans from the monsters. That was his job.

Marx sensed what had transpired. He sensed exactly who was pulling Kiryuu's strings, who made him attack those monsters. Kiryuu told the monsters to follow him so that he could resolve this peacefully. Something he would have done. But, that peaceful chat turned into a fight. Marx shook his head as he walked down the streets of San Francisco. King Ghidorah was in control over the movements and the attitude Kiryuu displayed. This began to worry him. Marx glanced up in the sky, feeling the air change again. Something was burning in the atmosphere. He smelled the flames and he saw the streak in the sky. In fact, many people saw the flaming ball in the air. They heard the sound of a sonic boom as the comet streaked through the clouds and over their heads.

_He's here…_Marx thought.

The whistle grew louder and Marx ducked just as glass exploded out from the window of a shop next to him. His phone rang.

"Hello?" he asked.

"Tim!" called Jo. "You there?"

"Jo?" Marx asked.

"Marx, there's a comet flying over the West Coast," Jo replied. "I saw it on the news."

"That quick…" Marx sighed. "Yeah, there is one."

"They said that some of the satellites it passed over, are going haywire," she said. "Some of them are even falling out of the sky."

"It's King Ghidorah," Marx sighed.

"What?" Jo asked.

"King Ghidorah," Tim replied. "This is how he comes to planets, in the form of a meteor crashing on the ground, or a comet, or some sort of astral body falling out of the sky."

"I have to see this, though," Jo said. "You'd promise you'd tell me where you were going."

"I know," Tim said. "I know I promised."

"And then, you just vanished again," Jo continued. "I'm getting more and more worried about you."

"Don't be," said Tim. "I've handled this lots of time. I was there when King Ghidorah attacked Atlantis. I'm going to follow that meteor. I want to know where King Ghidorah is planning on landing, but it looks like it's somewhere in the east."

"What are you going to do about it?" Jo asked.

"What I should do," Marx replied. "I'm going to follow it. Mothra says I shouldn't interfere, but she didn't say anything about me watching King Ghidorah from the sidelines."

"Could I join you?" Jo asked.

"What?" Tim called. "Why?"

"I want to see it for myself," she replied. "Come on. I want to see what you do as Leviathan. Let me come. And don't tell me where you are. Come and pick me up and fly me there!"

Marx sighed again and shook his head, running a hand through his blonde hair. He glanced back up at the sky, searching for some sort of sign to tell her 'no'. He did not want her to get hurt, he did not want her to get into danger. Though, he remembered that being a cop holds some dangers too, the dangers of King Ghidorah were much worse. But she really wanted to go.

"Okay," Marx said. "Okay. I'll be down there to pick you up."

"Promise?"

Marx chuckled and snapped his fingers. Suddenly, his form vanished.

"Promise," rumbled a deep voice from behind Jo. She spun around, her eyes meeting the fiery orange eyes of Leviathan. Manda chuckled, winking at her as he tilted his enormous head down to her.

"Tim," Jo laughed. "Don't do that again. You scared the shit out of me!"

"_Lo siento,"_ Manda chuckled. "Get on."

Jo checked her firearm, making sure she had bullets and her badge. She had a feeling she was going to need her revolver. She climbed up onto Manda's green mane and seated herself between his horns. The Dragon raised his head up and leapt up into the sky.

"Comfy?" Manda asked.

"Yeah," Jo replied.

"Good," Manda said. "Here we go."

Manda's serpentine form swam through the air currents. His body was a shimmering blue tube of muscle and magic. His tail whipped about as he flew through the air swiftly, making his way to the north, to where that meteor was heading for.

_He's heading for Tennessee!_ Manda thought. _But where is he going to land?_


	6. Mountains of the Phoenix

**Mountains of the Phoenix**

400 million years ago, the continents of North America and Africa collided with each other in conjunction with the other continents to form the super continent Pangaea. When Africa and North America were fused together, a mountain range was pushed up higher than the Himalayas. This mountain range later became known as the Appalachian Mountains. Many times did these mountains become lowered beneath the sea and rose again only to submerge once more. At the latter half of the Mesozoic, these ancient mountains were flattened out into nothing more than a plain from all the times they were submerged under the ocean. Then, just before the dawning of Man, an uplift from the faults surrounding the area pushed the flattened mountain peeks up and reformed them again. Rivers cut through the ancient bedrock redefining the cragged angles of the mountains. And like a phoenix, these mountains rose again, but not as high as they once were at the time of their formation. West of the Appalachian Range was the Tennessee Basin, and beyond that was the Mississippi River.

He remembered what the river once looked like long ago. It was a fjord then, sea water flowing all the way up to the Ohio River. And Tennessee was submerged under the ocean. Below the Mississippi was a fault line, not a fault line that separated two major tectonic plates, but a fault line nevertheless. This fault line had been the cause of many human speculation, and fears. It was perfect for him to land on.

Memphis, Tennessee, the land of the blues and the home of Elvis Presley, was a town full of life. It was named for Memphis, Egypt, the city along the river. To mark its Egyptian heritage, there near the great museum, stood three gleaming glass pyramids. Smaller glass pyramids dotted the landscape around the three large ones, representing the Pyramids of Giza. And the Mighty, Muddy Mississippi River, flowed straight south towards the Gulf of Mexico. Barges and riverboats of various variety sorts dotted the riverbank. And above, the sky was a color of an odd sort. The sky looked like a mixture of green and yellow, but this was not caused by any pollution from the bustling city.

The water trembled as the sky itself began to darken. There was a rumble growing out, echoing through the ground the city stood upon and it sent a tremor through the deep bedrock. The city itself froze as the tremor escalated and the bridges connecting Arkansas to Tennessee began to wobble. An ear splitting screech sounded and a bright flash exploded above West Memphis. The citizens looked up just as a fiery red ball fell from the sky as flaming debris rained down upon their city. Rocks and molten heat pitted the streets and fell upon the cars. The ball collided with the ground beyond the west bank and a shockwave rolled across the countryside. Glass shattered and concrete buckled as the citizens of Memphis ducked behind benches and vehicles, and bushes, trying to protect themselves from the explosion. The heat was fierce and the sound's thundering roar blocked out even simple thought.

A call echoed out from the crater of the impact as the shockwave rolled through the ground itself. The ground cracked and splintered and the buildings toppled from the force of the quake. And the New Madrid fault responded from the tickle of the impact of the meteor. A symphony of tremors quaked the ground and rolled east, guided by an unseen force. They dove deep into the bedrock, their fingers spreading out to the faults deep inside Tennessee clay and limestone.

The city of Memphis, from the shockwave of the meteor, had flattened out into near obscurity. Smoke and fire billowed out from the city and the cries of sirens from emergency vehicles raced to save whoever was left under the rubble. And the sky had changed, turning a crimson red from the fires of the molten rock of the hot meteor.

_Rise, Mountains of the Phoenix, _a voice called out to the east. _Mountains once had fallen through wind, water, and time, finish your rebirth in this world. Mountains that have seen life be born and die, and born again, rise from your slumber. Rumble and shake, expand and quake. May the tallest peek breathe its fiery wrath just like in days of old. Monuments of fire formed by the colliding landmasses come alive again in the East. There shall be smoke and fire in the East!_

In the east, the tremor was felt through the fault lines around the Smoky Mountain National Park. The mountains shook violently as if awakened with rejuvenated life. The ground cracked and shifted as the mountains began to rise. Pigeon Forge felt the quake and life itself ceased for a breath as the spectators looked on with bewilderment. The highway connecting Pigeon Forge to Gatlinburg broke away as the mountains incasing the small tourist attraction town rose around it. A massive chasm formed as the Smoky Mountains continued to rise higher and higher into the sky. This was a sight to behold, and it was impossible to even predict. Mountains rising up when only mere rocky hills stood was more out of a wild biblical story than reality. And a little beyond these mountains, another set belonging to the Appalachian chain rose up. The counties of Loudon and Anderson quaked as the Cumberlands rose, reforming to shapes they once held before the coal mining began. And the Cumberland Plateau shifted, also rising higher, its flat, mesa shape becoming more defined. Though, the tremors were aimed at the Appalachian Mountains, shockwaves from the tremors could be felt as far as Nevada.

"Holy hell!" cried Will. "Holy, holy, holy hell! What the fuck is happening?"

"Chinga!" Maria breathed when she held onto one of the support beams as the inside of the base shook violently. Kiryuu glanced up, bracing himself up against the body arms. Dust fell from the ceiling as the slight tremor quieted down.

"What the hell was that?" Will asked, glancing around the bay. "Earthquake?"

"This quake did not feel like it originated locally," Kiryuu informed.

As soon as Kiryuu had returned to the base, Gordon began to speak to him about creating the Oxygen Destroyer. Again, Kiryuu restated that he felt he did not have the power to destroy King Ghidorah. Then, the quake happened. It was a slight tremor. The facility shook enough to knock off coffee cups from the table. Will grabbed his cup just before it was about to fall to the ground. Io gripped Katsura's shirt, not sure what was about to happen. Just as suddenly the quake had come, it left and everyone finally calmed down.

"Okay," began Gordon began. "Where did that come from?"

Kiryuu closed his eyes and tapped into the USGS satellite grids. Apparently, they were not knocked out by the disturbance. He zoomed in on where the epicenter had come from and his eyes widened. There was a look of absolute flummox and dark horror written upon his face. From what he saw from the satellite images of the area on the east bank of the Mississippi River, there was supposed to be a city there. But what he found was a black spot and smoke rising up into the atmosphere.

"The—earthquake came from—Memphis, Tennessee," Kiryuu breathed.

"Huh?" Will asked.

"Tennessee—and earthquake…" Gordon shook his head. "Tennessee doesn't have earthquakes."

"Actually, Tennessee does have earthquakes," Kiryuu said. "Tennessee is a state divided by many fault lines. That's how the Smoky Mountains were formed. And there is a major fault line—one every geologists keeps an eye on because it affects such a large area, larger than the area the San Andreas fault affects. This fault line runs partially underneath the Mississippi River and on into Arkansas. The New Madrid fault. Tennessee is no stranger to seismic activity. One recorded quake occurred in the mid 1800s from the New Madrid fault changed the course of the mighty Mississippi and flooded an area right above the boarder of Tennessee and Kentucky. This area is now known as Reelfoot Lake."

"There's a whole lotta shakin' goin' on," Will murmured under his breath.

"Indeed," Kiryuu commented, picking up his statement. "Actually, one could be worried about what the New Madrid fault might do. The San Andreas does not have the potential of setting off Yellowstone like the New Madrid does."

"So, those Southerners have a sleeping dragon under the Mississippi River," Gordon sighed. "And…"

"And King Ghidorah just awoke it," Kiryuu growled. "I think you all need to see this."

Kiryuu passed the news reel to the others, putting up a Japanese subtitle for Io to read as the reporter began to talk. Behind the reporter were the Blue Ridge Mountains. Apparently, even the reporter was lost for words as to what just happened. He pointed back behind him where the Smoky Mountain National Park was, following along highway 144. He could go no further up the road like everyone else because of the enormous chasm blocking their way up to Gatlinburg.

"_Uh…the seismic activity have ceased for now," _the reporter began. _"They say that the area is very unstable. I'm here in Sevierville, Tennessee where once the Smoky Mountains looked nothing more than barely recognizable cardboard cutouts against a hazy blue sky, now have become jaggedly, rocky monuments of cold stone, extending high into the atmosphere, and now are clear as day to be seen. They look like they're as tall as the Rockies, but sharper around the edges. Um…I've spoken to the geologists in the area and they're faces look as blank as anyone's face after something as baffling as this has happened. I couldn't even get a straight answer out of them. They don't know why. They think possibly the earthquake that originated from Memphis caused this, but then they say it's scientifically impossible. It's scientifically impossible, but it happened. Apparently the whole Appalachian chain has risen. We're—getting reports from new stations around Ashville, North Carolina, that Mt. Mitchell hasn't quit rumbling. And there's report of smoke coming from the mountain. Maybe a forest fire, but no one can say for sure. Clingman's Dome, despite its new elevation, seems fine. The Newfoundland Gap hopefully is in tact. And we hope the tourists who come here every year are safe. There are reports of rescue operations going on now to locate anyone inside the park."_

"Smoke?" Will asked. "Coming from Mt Mitchell?"

"I take it you've been to Mt Mitchell?" Gordon asked.

"I used to live in Virginia," Will replied. "And I did drive down to Ashville a few times for skiing around Mt Mitchell. It's the tallest mountain in the whole Appalachian chain."

"Kiryuu," began Katsura. "Pull up Mt Mitchell."

Kiryuu accessed the USGC grid again and managed to pull up a photo of Mt. Mitchell. There, coming from its peek, was smoke.

"I'm getting heat readings coming from inside the mountain," Kiryuu said. "And…harmonic tremor…"

"Harmonic tremor?" Gordon asked.

"It means…" Kiryuu broke off, taking a slight pause. This time, not even he could even compute the possibility of a situation like this happening. "A volcano."

"Oh…no," Will shook his head. "No, that's not possible. Okay, yeah, earthquakes happening around the Blue Ridge Mountains, that I'll believe. But Mt. Mitchell becoming a volcano? No, that's not possible. I'm no geologist, but even I know that there isn't any record of the Appalachian Mountains ever being volcanic. Kiryuu, be reasonable."

"The data doesn't lie," Kiryuu said. "There's a volcano brewing under that mountain. And I'm getting three other hot spots rising up farther north as well."

"No," Will shook his head. "No, that's not possible."

"Will," Kiryuu began. "Mountains that were once 6 thousand feet above sea level—rising nearly 20 thousand feet above sea level within a matter of hours is also impossible. Mountains just don't rise like that. There are volcanic rock layers stored inside those mountains from activity hundreds of millions of years ago. At one time, during their birth, the Appalachian Mountains had some volcanic activity. Volcanoes once active, are now nothing more than folds within the crevasses dating all the way back to Precambrian time. This data has only been recently unearthed by geologists in the area. But there are signs of volcanic rock deposits in the Smoky Mountains."

"That was hundreds of millions of years," Gordon agreed. "But now…"

"Now, there's a volcano that might blow its top," Kiryuu sighed. "A hotspot under the mountain where once there was none. Which is—impossible. It's just scientifically, logically, and inherently impossible. Why? Why the Smoky Mountains, why Tennessee? Why is King Ghidorah doing this?"

"Because they are the Mountains of the Phoenix," two tiny voices replied.

Gordon, Will, Katsura, Io, and Maria turned around at the sound of the tiny voices. Though the voices were speaking in English, even Io could understand them. Apparently, to her, they were speaking in Japanese. They looked over at the source of the tiny voice and found two girls, twins, standing on a table. They were no larger than a foot tall and dressed in flowery kimonos. The two, tiny ladies bowed respectively. Maria's eyes just widened even more than ever.

"Gordon…" she began. "I—I think I need to go home now."

"Why?" Gordon asked.

"I think I've been drinking and now, I'm hallucinating," she said, her voice becoming a wavered whisper.

"What do you see?" Gordon asked, grinning at her.

"Two ladies dressed in kimonos no bigger than," she swallowed.

"Maria," Kiryuu rumbled reassuringly, his silvery tendril wrapping around her waist. "You're not seeing hallucinating. I see them too. They are the Cosmos."

She felt the tip of the silvery vine rub against the arch of her back, trying to calm the fretting woman down. He could sense, even without a link to her mind, that Maria was about to have an emotional break down from seeing two fairies standing before her.

"It's going to be okay, Maria," Kiryuu rumbled again, his deep purr began to sooth her. That voice of his could ease any agitation she held. She felt the tension begin to melt away and her muscles relaxed under the combination of his reassuring rub and the deep, powerful, inviting timbre of his seductive voice.

_Oh, that voice of his could melt away the largest glacier, _Maria grinned. _All he has to do is speak._

"Hello, again," the Cosmos chimed in unison.

"Hello, ladies," Gordon began. "I'm shocked to see you both here. I guess the disturbance in the east has even been brought to Mothra's attention."

"Yes," they replied. "It has. The damage King Ghidorah is doing to this planet is not just happening in the Southeast, it is happening everywhere. But King Ghidorah's attention is aimed towards those mountains."

They raised their arms up gracefully as they pointed directly at the image of the Smoky Mountains on the monitors.

"So, it's not Knoxville that King Ghidorah is interested in," began Kiryuu. "It's the Blue Ridge Mountains?"

"The whole chain is his focus point," they replied. "But the Southeast holds the tallest of the chain. The Blue Ridge Mountain, and the Smoky Mountain National Park are his target."

"Why?" Katsura asked.

"They are the Mountains of the Phoenix," the fairies replied.

"What does that mean?" Will asked. "They're just mountains."

"They contain a geological timeline of the planet's past dating all the way back to even before life had even been kindled," the Cosmos replied. "They remember everything, even King Ghidorah for he has stood upon them before."

"King Ghidorah has been to the Appalachian Mountains?" Kiryuu asked. His head shook. "Even so, there are older rocks than what those mountains hold. Why are they so important?"

"They are the Mountains…"

"I know!" Kiryuu bellowed, his own frustrations came to light. His soft, soothing voice soon became harsh and stern, their tones vibrating through the walls of the bay area. "Let's ask this question. Why are they called the 'Mountains of the Phoenix'?"

"Mountains that rose high into the air, have fallen," the fairies replied. "Never to rise again. Mountains formed by force and heat and molten rock, have crumbled from wind, and weather, and time, never to rise again. These mountains have fallen like all others, but have risen again, their peeks exposing the ages that have gone before. They have become a spire of energies that have passed through the sands of time and King Ghidorah will use them to tap into the heart of the planet and suck this planet dry of life. It has happened before."

"130 million years ago," Kiryuu said.

"No," they replied. "King Ghidorah has visited this planet many times after Mothra placed you and your son into slumber. He did so 65 million years ago. King Ghidorah found that life will always return to this planet. Then, he found a solution of tapping into the very heart of the planet by going through the ages that have passed on. These mountains have been through many metamorphosis and have stored history within their slopes. They are a conduit for King Ghidorah."

"Why did he raise them so high?" Will asked.

"Unfortunately, many of King Ghidorah's reasoning can only be said by him and no other," they replied. "Why he rose the mountains to an altitude they once held many millions of years ago, only he can tell. One possible reason is to expose even more of the layers of history they held deep inside."

"And what about Mt. Mitchell?" Kiryuu asked. "Is it a volcano now?"

"Yes," they replied. "The stress from King Ghidorah's raising of the mountains pulled magma from the center of the Earth and trapped it into one of the cave systems inside the mountain. Now, the magma has nowhere else to go but out. This is happening to other peeks as well."

"There are four hotspots," Kiryuu said. "Three others north of Mt. Mitchell. One is in Virginia, another in Maine, and the third is in near New York."

"Kiryuu," began Gordon. "Has King Ghidorah shown himself?"

"The meteor that crashed into Memphis," began Kiryuu. "Has an enormous magnetic signature. I can concur this signature was the same as the signature of the meteor that crashed just outside of London two years ago. This meteor contains King Ghidorah. But for now, he has not risen."

"He likes to wait for his prey to come up close and inspect him," the fairies said. "Then, he will emerge. But for now, just watching the chaos he is causing in the east is enough entertainment for him for now. When he gets bored of that, he will emerge."

"He's waiting for Mt. Mitchell to erupt," Will sighed.

"Gordon," Kiryuu began. "About the Oxygen Destroyer…"

"Kiryuu…" Gordon sighed. "I don't like that weapon. I don't like you having that weapon."

"I'm not quite finished with it," Kiryuu said. "Gordon, this is why I built it. How do you expect me to defeat a creature like King Ghidorah? He can raise mountains, turn an area that hasn't been volcanically active in 200 million years, and make it active again. How can I defeat a monster like that?"

"How do you know that the Oxygen Destroyer can defeat him?" Gordon asked.

"It defeated me," Kiryuu replied. "When nothing else could, it did. Serizawa's weapon is still the most destructive component ever created. I have to use it."

"Kiryuu…"

"Gordon, King Ghidorah has created a volcano from a mountain that has never seen volcanic activity," Kiryuu called. "He's defying science! Please, I must finish the Oxygen Destroyer."

"Am I gonna have to have this thing installed inside of you?" he asked. "Because if I have to and it malfunctions, everything, even you AI will be damaged. Your body will be completely destroyed. I don't want to loose you."

"I've done the same thing Serizawa did when he created the Oxygen Destroyer," said Kiryuu. "I created a bomb-like casing for it. Only difference is that mine will activate remotely. And I've created two. I will detonate them when I get to King Ghidorah."

"Which means you have to find a way to stick it on him," Gordon growled. "Which will put you in danger."

"I'm always in danger of a fatal accident while fighting these monsters, Gordon," Kiryuu began.

"Gordon's right," said Maria. "Kiryuu, don't do it."

"Maria," Kiryuu sighed, his head hanging low.

"Kiryuu, I don't want you to get hurt," Maria said.

"_Mi amiga,"_ he rumbled. "I know what I'm doing. The syntech will aid me. Gordon, I must complete this."

"Gordon," began Katsura. "Kiryuu is right. This thing is bigger than he is. We built the AI to calculate any possibility in defeating a monster. If all of Kiryuu's calculations have come up with the solution that building an Oxygen Destroyer is the only way to defeat King Ghidorah and save humanity, we must let him finish it."

Gordon sighed again, running a frustrated hand through his hair and down his face. He glanced up at Kiryuu, his expression portraying his feelings on Kiryuu's experiment. Serizawa died so that his weapon would never be used again. And now, the very thing he destroyed with that weapon is now creating that weapon to kill another monster.

"Gordon," began Kiryuu. "I swear that this weapon would only be used once. It won't be used again."

"What about your knowledge in building one?" Gordon asked.

"It is encrypted," Kiryuu replied.

"I won't feel any better about it until you erase everything on Serizawa's weapon after you complete the thing!" Gordon barked. "Do you understand me? This isn't a safe weapon to use. And I agree with Serizawa, I don't think anyone should have the ability to use it."

"Very well, Gordon," Kiryuu replied with sincerity in his voice. "I will erase the files when I am done."

"Good," Gordon said. _Oh, he's lying through his teeth._

Jo glanced over her shoulder, watching as the world passed below like a blur. She gripped tightly to Manda's blue-green mane as the great Sea Dragon spiraled down towards the earth below.

"Hang on," Manda called. His eyes narrowed as he dove down towards the tall, angling peeks below. He knew these mountains, but he knew that they were not originally this size. Manda glanced down as his body turned towards one of the peaks that caught his eyes. His serpentine form whipped in the wind like a ribbon, coiling and uncoiling through the air currents. The peak itself looked like it was smoking. His nostrils took in the scent of the air around him. Manda's nose wrinkled up as he smelled the stench in the air. He heard Jo in the back coughing.

"Aw, God!" she cried. "What is that smell?"

"Sulfur," Manda replied. He landed near one of the vents that the smell and the smoke was coming out. As he landed, he felt the earth beneath him tremble and rumble. The trees around him looked bare and lifeless. There were no sounds of birds singing or any other animals. The only thing he could hear was the ominous hiss of the vent.

"What the hell happened?" Manda asked.

"This place stinks," Jo coughed again.

"Cover your nose, Jo," Manda ordered.

"Why the hell are we here, Tim?" she asked. "What is this place?"

"Mt. Mitchell, North Carolina," Manda replied as he glanced around, readjusting his dark, reflective sunglasses. He took them off and placed them up on his brow as he leaned down slightly to the vent. He knew he could not get any closer to it because of its toxic fumes. Though he would not be affected by them, his passenger was a different story. The Dragon did not want Jo to get sick.

"There's dead trees everywhere," Jo whispered. "Tim, this place gives me the heebie-jeebies. Where's the birds?"

Manda glanced down to the ground, his nose catching the scent of death beneath his feet. He lifted one brilliant blue foot up and saw what he smelled. There were the charred bodies of birds, deer, and squirrels. Their lifeless husks littered the ground everywhere. Birds that once flew freely in the sky, looked as if they fell. It was the sulfur.

"Manda," Jo breathed. "What happened to them?"

"The sulfur," Manda replied. "It's the fumes from that vent. They suffocated."

"We'll suffocate too if we stay here longer!" Jo cried. "Let's get the hell out of here."

"I'll fly upwind from the vent and scout around," he said as he leapt into the air.

"Tim," began Jo. "Look, I'm no specialist, but I've seen the Discovery Channel a few times. Um, doesn't a sulfur vent mean something like a volcano? Isn't that where it comes from, a volcano?"

"That tremor I felt came deep from within the mountain," said Manda as he landed on the other side of the vent. "A volcano? That's impossible."

He felt another tremor rock the ground. The ground itself cracked and Manda leapt up unto the air again. His eyes widened and his breath became still as the ground opened its jagged maw, revealing a fiery glow inside.

"A volcano!" Manda cried. "Jesus-tap-dancing-Christ! This whole mountain's gonna erupt!"

"Marx, get us the fuck outta here now!" Jo cried. She held on tightly as Manda inched his way into the sky again. She glanced back once more, seeing the vent where the sulfur came out spray a fountain of crimson and bright orange. Manda felt the heat on his back and he turned around towards the peak where once the lookout stood. Smoke and ash spewed out from the top from newly formed vents deep within the mountain.

"Tim, there's something I remembered I saw on the Discovery Channel," Jo began as she saw the black jet rise higher into the sky.

"What's that?" Manda asked.

"Whenever a mountain blows its top, it sends this really black cloud of dust and debris into the air," she began. "And it's like very hot and it falls to the ground and burns the flesh off of anything that gets in its way. Um…Mt Saint Helens blasted that once."

"Pyroclastic cloud," Manda said. "The expulsion of the volcano's top."

"Yeah," Jo said. "Um, this is not a safe place to be. Can we get out of here before that cloud reaches us." She paused again, seeing other blast happen at the top as a flow of black, heated wall of death came towards them. "Like—fucking right now!"

"It'll be a while before that happens," said Manda. He felt something fall on his snout and he glanced up. All around him it looked like it was snowing. But he knew better. The white flakes that were falling from the sky were not frozen water particles, but volcanic ash. "Cover your mouth and nostrils and close your eyes tightly."

"Ash," Jo breathed.

Manda glanced up as he saw the black cloud fill the clear blue sky. And beyond that, he saw lightning flash in the billowing black vapors. He heard the sound of thunder rumble and he turned his head down. There, at the peak of the mountain was a spout of crimson and orange. And the mountain roared out angrily.

"Get us out of here," Jo cried. "Now!"

"No arguments here," Manda agreed. He whipped his tail, spiraling up into the air again. The Dragon flew west towards the interior of the Blue Ridge Mountains. He glanced around, seeing that there had been some extreme changes in the mountains' elevation. Once, these mountains were no higher than five to six thousand feet, now, their peaks stretched up nearly twice that height. The Blue Ridge Mountains swiftly became the area known as the Smoky Mountains National Park. As the plume of Mt. Mitchell faded from their sight, the smell of sulfur could not leave his nostrils. That smell was everywhere he flew. Manda neared Gatlinburg, or where Gatlinburg used to reside and found just the same in the Smokies as with Mount Mitchell. The mountains were now tall, angling, treeless spires of gray and black rock. Snow now capped their peaks because of the high altitudes precipitation. But the highest of these mounts was spouting smoke much like its cousin in North Carolina.

"Not another one," Jo sighed. "Another volcano?"

"This is King Ghidorah's doing," Manda said. "One time—one time hundreds of millions of years ago, these mountains were volcanic. There evidence is there in the rock layers. But the volcanoes that once fumed long ago have disappeared into the folds. Though, before King Ghidorah mutated these mountains, a few peaks did held the famous conical shape that betrayed their violent birth."

"Why is he making new volcanoes when he could just easily use volcanoes that have irrupted recently?" Jo asked as she glanced down at the other smoking mountain.

"That's just it," Manda replied. "If an already known volcano were to erupt, then no one else would think much on it. They would be worried, but it would not cause as much chaos as making mountains become volcanoes when they were never ones before. This is something different. Creating volcanoes out of mountains that haven't seen volcanic activity since before the dinosaurs is raising eyebrows and stirring up deep, frighten thoughts among Americans."

"So, he's showing off?" Jo groaned. "Great, a monster that likes to show off."

"He's very dramatic," Manda said. "World destruction is like a stage to him."

"Pre-Madonna," Jo snorted, hearing Manda chuckle.

Manda glanced down at the peak of the smoking mountain below him.

"Clingman's Dome," he said. "It's not really erupting violently as Mount Mitchell was. But I do see the lava in its newly formed volcanic crater. Looks like the lava is building the cone, flattening out construction in the area. But it's fuming though. Looks like Kilauea the way it's just spewing lava over its sides and smoke up from its crater."

"It's covering the whole sky with a big, black cloud," said Jo.

Manda's fins tested the wind as he landed on the slopes of the volcano. Jo covered her nose and mouth again as the stench of sulfur fumes filled her nostrils. The mountain rumbled, but not as much as Mt. Mitchell. Mount Mitchell erupted out, blasting a cloud of ash and debris into the air, covering the land with a Pyroclastic surge. But Clingman's Dome was not. But it did fume out more smoke and ash from the top of its cone, blocking the sunlight. A broiling fume of despair covered the southeast of Tennessee, extending out beyond the now lava filled Pigeon River, and out towards Knoxville.

"This is King Ghidorah's will," Manda rumbled darkly. "The wind is blowing from the west, but the ash cloud is moving from the southeast. He wants the Tennessee Valley covered in a blanket of ash and soot from Clingman's Dome and the sky to black. He is setting his stage."

"Pre-Madonna," Jo snorted. She glanced up again at the sound of thunder. As the ash cloud moved, lightning streaked through its billowing underbelly, striking the ground as ash fell like gray snow. "Oh, yeah, this is melodrama. What are we going to do?"

"If King Ghidorah is defeated," began Manda. "Then it is possible that the spell he placed upon this land will be lifted. It might go back to normal and the volcanic activity will cease."

"What if it doesn't?" Jo asked.

"Then, Tennessee and North Carolina are gonna have the same fears as Seattle with Mount Saint Helens," Manda sighed. "Let's go. There's nothing more we can do here."

"Tim," began Jo. "Why is King Ghidorah coming here?"

"These are the Mountains of the Phoenix," Manda replied as he flew off towards the west. "These mountains have risen and fallen—only to rise again. These mountains are a conduit that King Ghidorah can use in order to suck the life out of this planet."

"And Kiryuu has to stop him before he does," Jo said.

"That's right," said Manda as he flew across land that was blanketed in a fine covering of ash. And behind him he could hear the sound of the mountains rumble.


	7. Down Hill From Here

**Down Hill from Here**

Godzilla looked out beyond the waves and shivered. Something he could sense in the air he did not like at all. The waves clapped on the sandy beach near his ivory toe talons. He heard the sound of sea gulls cracking shells on the black rocks near the beach. He sighed slightly, his brownish-red eyes staring aimlessly across the horizon. The sky was hazy and clouds covered the dome. He could hear the sound of thunder crackling in the distance and lightning flash. Though storms were never a bother to Godzilla, he had an inner fear of them—mostly from being afraid of the lightning when he was still very young and very small. Sometimes, these fears never go away. The lightning to him represented the breath weapon of King Ghidorah as he laid to waste the land he grew up upon, and the death he had caused. And forever Godzilla would hate the lightning and the sound of the thunder and he feared it. He remembered his father comforting him when he was frightened of the sound of the thunder. His father on the other hand enjoyed the sound. The liquid amber of his father's eyes reflected the bright glow of the lightning. He remembered that look in his father's eyes when the lightning struck. Those golden pools captured the light deep within them.

Godzilla shivered again when he heard the sound of the thunder crackle through the angry heavens above. The wind began to pick up around the great beast as he glanced around. He heard something in the ocean making its way onto the beach. Godzilla at first barred his teeth when he saw the figure rise itself out of the water. Then, he relaxed, backing away when he saw Angilus rise up out of the water. The ankylosaur hobbled weakly out of the ocean. Upon his back was the form of his companion Rodan, lifeless. Godzilla could tell that Angilus was on his last leg as well, blood dripping out from his jaws. There were deep cuts and gashes all over the enormous dinosaur. Godzilla could only ask what happened.

_The Father…_

Godzilla lowered his head, shaking it in disbelief. Though, in away he suspected something like this would happen. Kiryuu attacked them and he killed Rodan. Kiryuu—his father was unpredictable in his actions. His loyalties lied not with his own kind, but with the Humans. He glanced back up again at the sound of thunder rumbling through the clouds. It sent a shiver through his scales. Once more, he was worried. Angilus glanced up to Godzilla and growled weakly at him, hobbling off towards the rocks. Then, he disappeared behind them. Godzilla did not look back. He did not need to. There were no final fair wells in the world of animals. Angilus said what he needed to say to the son and that was it.

Godzilla walked out into the ocean, letting the salty waves crash against his hide. Then, he took in a deep breath and dove into the water. His body swiftly propelled him through the water. Above he could feel the turmoil of the ocean as the storm came in. His senses focused and he found himself drawn to the east again. Godzilla knew his way now well enough to lead him through the Pacific Ocean into the Atlantic Ocean. He saw that channel through into the Atlantic. But King Ghidorah was not in the Atlantic. He was not even in Florida. He was further inland, further north than Florida. He had to go there. He knew his father would also go there as well. He knew his father, his father would want to protect the smaller creatures of that land. Of course he would go there. Godzilla wanted to help. He wanted to prove to his father that he could be like him. Godzilla began to figure out that if he helped to protect the creatures, perhaps his father would not be so harsh to him anymore. Not even those silly little creatures deserved King Ghidorah's wrath. No one did. Godzilla remembered what happened that day. That was why he was afraid of the lighting. Although, now lightning could not harm him, he still feared it. Because it resembled King Ghidorah. And he feared King Ghidorah. Somewhere, he knew his father did as well.

Something disturbed him though, something that Angilus had said during their small chat. He remembered that Angilus told him Kiryuu changed during the fight. At first Kiryuu lead them both away, to an island rarely used by the humans. Then, they chatted. Kiryuu blamed Rodan for calling him a 'freak'. And then, Kiryuu got angry and attacked both of them. Angilus said that Kiryuu's eyes seemed to have changed color when the attack happened. Angilus told Godzilla that Kiryuu's golden eyes turned to blood red, the same color as the six eyes King Ghidorah held.

_Father's eyes turned red? _Godzilla thought.

He continued on his journey through the waves, silently as he mulled over that question. It worried him. He sensed where the disturbance was coming from. It was far of into the east, far, into the large landmass that Kiryuu currently resided in. Godzilla made his way there.

_Kiryuu's Project_

"_Another volcano had erupted today," _began the news reporter. _"The mountain Clingman's Dome, the highest peak in the state of Tennessee, erupted spewing lava, fire bombs, and spreading an ash cloud nearly 300 square miles in diameter, covering Sevier County, Knox County, parts of Loudon County, and Anderson County in darkness. There are power outages spreading throughout the cities of Pigeon Forge, Knoxville, and Sevierville as ash rains down on the buildings, clogging power stations and generators. The water is polluted from the ash."_

Kiryuu glanced up at the monitor's screen as he folded the glass casing down. He was in the laboratory, finishing up on the Oxygen Destroyer, but he never kept his eyes off of what was going on with Tennessee.

"_Geologists have been keeping an eye on the affects the shockwave has done to America's true active volcanoes in the west," _the reporter continued on. _"So far, the shockwave has done little to cause any sort of tremor to the likes of Mount Saint Helens, Mount Rainer, or Mount Baker. Neither has this shockwave set off the Yellowstone Volcano, which was a very major concern for geologists. Some scientists have speculated that the right tremor from the New Madrid fault might set off Yellowstone, but so far the earthquakes from the New Madrid has done nothing to affect the famous national park. Still, scientists cannot answer as to why or how this earthquake managed to turn an area that has never been volcanically active, into a volcanically active mountain range. All scientists still state that this is impossible."_

"More like improbable," Kiryuu sighed.

"_Whether or not it is impossible," _said the reporter. _"The states of Tennessee, North Carolina, Virginia, and Kentucky now have volcanoes. Geologist state that the eruption from Clingman's Dome and Mount Mitchell are much smaller than what Mount Saint Helens has done, and because of their remote location, the Pyroclastic damage has been very minimum. So far, Mount Mitchell has quieted down since its eruption just two days ago, but Clingman's Dome has continued its eruption. The ash cloud seems to have found a crosswind against the trade winds probably caused by the mountains themselves and is keeping within the boundaries from the Smoky Mountain National Park to Knoxville. The Little Pigeon River has been a duct for the lava flow from the mountain range itself down to the valley, emptying out into the Tennessee River. Residence in this area have been advised to take shelter under a sturdy building, or evacuate the area. People who must take shelter, have taken shelter in the lower levels of buildings, car lots, schools, churches and court houses. Traffic is backed up on I-40 as residence are attempting to evacuate to higher grounds in Kingston, Crossville, and Harriman. Other residents are making their way down I-75 to Chattanooga and Atlanta. Both main fairways are extremely congested."_

Maria walked into the laboratory silently so she would not disturb Kiryuu's work. She slowly sat down on the chair near him, watching quietly as he pieced the weapon together. She glanced up at the monitor, listening to the reports on the updates of what was happening in the east. The scene had switched to the meteor that had crashed into Memphis. Kiryuu glanced up, rumbling deeply. He knew Maria was there, his tail lifting up to her back, giving it a good scratch. Maria smiled when she felt the barbs on his tail rub her back. The holographic projection was becoming more real with every upgrade Will made to it.

Kiryuu glanced up again at the TV screen and growled at it. Everything that was happening, all of this was being caused by King Ghidorah. He glanced down at the glass casing he worked on and snipped at the wirings inside of it. He tapped a few buttons on a box controller on the side of the weapon and then closed the glass cover. Kiryuu tried to keep the design similar to Serizawa's design for the first Oxygen Destroyer.

"It's hard to believe that I promised that I would not build this weapon," Kiryuu sighed. "And ironic that I would build the weapon that killed me."

"Irony has been in play a lot lately," Maria said. Kiryuu glanced up at her.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "This is not boring you any?"

"No," she replied. "Why do you ask?"

"I know I haven't been paying much attention to you lately, Maria," Kiryuu said as he fastened the glass cover tightly. "I've been so busy."

"You've got reason to," she said. "You've been busy at your work."

"History stated that Serizawa had a fiancée," he began. "Who he ignored because he was too engorged into his work, especially with the Oxygen Destroyer. She then fell in love with another. He showed her how the weapon worked though. She was the first to see it and he made her swear that she would tell no one about it. But she did, she told the one she fell in love with later on, and he tried to convince Serizawa to use the weapon against Godzilla—against—me. He agreed to do it as long as it would only be used once."

"And he only made one," said Maria. "And here you are making two."

"Always make two of everything," said Kiryuu, grinning at her. "I cannot afford one of these malfunctioning during the battle."

He turned back again at the screen, seeing the news change back over to the enormous meteor that had crashed into Memphis. Kiryuu blinked slightly when he noticed something on the surface of the meteor. He slowly drew himself closer to the screen to examine the image. A light pulsed from within the surface of the meteor. Kiryuu could tell that the meteor looked a bit more translucent now that it had settled into its crater. He glanced over closer to the image and hit the pause button.

_Thank you, Tivo, _Kiryuu thought. _Hello, what's this?_

"What is it?" Maria asked.

"It's glowing," he said. "It's pulsating." Kiryuu glanced up. "Will, get that image off of the news. The one of the meteor. It's on Channel 56."

"Right," said Will over the intercom.

"Zoom in," said Kiryuu.

"Kiryuu, there's a crack in the meteor's side," said the computer programmer. Kiryuu hit the play button again and the live TV continued its feed. Maria glanced over and watched as the glowing crack slowly grew out from the center, splitting the meteor in two.

"Uh-oh," Will said. "Kiryuu…"

"I guess King Ghidorah got bored," said Kiryuu. "He's coming out."

"_The meteor, it appears to be—hatching…" _said the reporter.

Then, a bright light flashed and filled the screen. Kiryuu leaned back, blinking away the flash from his eyes. When the flash cleared, an immense monster stood in the center of the crater. It was a gigantic golden dragon with enormous bat wings that folded out like a fan. The dragon was a quadruped with three heads. The central dominant head had branched horns and a sly, very devilish smile on its face. Two tails flipped about behind the creature, sweeping across the ground and causing dust to rise up. When the dragon roared, it sounded like a laughing sound of a hyena and a ringing of a bronze bell. But the call was loud enough to shake the ground. It was King Ghidorah. The space dragon was about 100 feet tall to the shoulder, but size wise, he was around 500 feet in length. Kiryuu swallowed and leaned down up against the lab station. Maria glanced down at him, noticing that the color in his face slowly faded away. He was scared.

"Kiryuu?" she asked. "Kiryuu?"

_Kiryuu…_

Kiryuu growled and shook his head, his lips pulling back across the racks of teeth. Even as a hologram, he was fearsome to look at sometimes. Though, this expression was more of horror than of being fierce. Kiryuu grunted, watching as the space dragon reared his three heads back. King Ghidorah's central head's grin broadened just as the two other heads fired their golden lightning upon Memphis.

"_It's horrible!" _called the reporter. _"It's—it's Monster Zero! The one who attacked London! It's attacking Memphis!"_

Maria ran over to Kiryuu and knelt down to him, placing her hand on his holographic shoulder.

"Kiryuu?" she asked. "You gonna be okay?"

"K—King Ghidorah…" he breathed. "Has awakened."

His eyes turned back over to the screen's image being warped through the glass of the casing for the Oxygen Destroyer. He heard the horrid sound of King Ghidorah's bell call through the speakers.

"I have to finish," he said. "I have to finish."

_Kiryuu…let's play a game of tag._

Kiryuu blinked for a moment. Then, he saw the image of King Ghidorah turn towards him. Kiryuu rose up off the floor, his image making the motions of breathing as he saw the image of the space dragon push his central head through the TV screen.

"Dios mio," Maria breathed. Kiryuu turned back to her, realizing that she was seeing the same thing.

_I hope you are both entertained…_said King Ghidorah. _Tag, you're it, Kiryuu. You already know where I am going._

"Smoky Mountains," breathed Kiryuu, pushing himself as far as he could against the lab station behind him. "Because…of the energy there."

_Did Mothra fill your head with that 'Mountains of the Phoenix' dribble? _He asked. _That is one reason. But there is another. You will undoubtedly see when you arrive. I intend on showing you._

Kiryuu gripped the side of the lab table when he felt King Ghidorah feed his way back into his CPU. Kiryuu shut his eyes tightly as he heard King Ghidorah's laughter inside his head.

_Leave him alone! _Called the voice of Biollante. _He's mine! Get out!_

King Ghidorah flinched, his head snapping back as if something had kicked him there.

_I see you have a guard dog, _he growled. _No matter, I will get rid of her soon enough._

Kiryuu's eyes narrowed in defiance and he let loose a deep growl.

"Get out," he grunted at the dragon.

_Very well, Godzilla, _King Ghidorah chuckled._ You and I will have a polite chat when you reach Knoxville. I'll be waiting there. Now, come and get me…_

The head pulled back through the screen and King Ghidorah resumed his attack.

"How the fuck did he do that?" Maria asked.

"I don't know," Kiryuu breathed. He swallowed and turned back at the Oxygen Destroyer. "He stared right at it, but didn't even say anything about it."

"What?" Maria asked.

"The Oxygen Destroyer," Kiryuu said. "He—he didn't say anything."

"Maybe he didn't read your mind enough to know what it was," said Maria. "You almost done now?"

"It's finished," he said. "They're both finished."

Kiryuu leaned over and tightened one more bolt on the casing and then got out the other weapon under the lab table.

"Here, carry these carefully up to the hangar," he said. Kiryuu walked over and pushed a dolly to Maria. "Use this."

He picked both weapons up and placed them onto the dolly.

"Be careful, Maria," said Kiryuu. He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"I'll treat them like they're our twins," Maria winked at him as she pushed the dolly out of the laboratory. Kiryuu chuckled as he watched her walk away, his long, silvery-armored tail swaying slightly behind him. Then, he turned back at the screen. Within a few minutes of his arrival, King Ghidorah had laid to waste all of Memphis. The Blues Capital of America just disappeared into a pile of rubble. And there was King Ghidorah, standing in the middle of the city, wings fanning out. Kiryuu got closer and watched as tiny golden lights began to rise up from the rubble. The lights floated up towards King Ghidorah and the three heads opened their great maws. King Ghidorah inhaled the sparkling lights.

"Life force," he said. Kiryuu shook his head and turned off the monitor. His image disappeared from the lab.

"King Ghidorah has arisen," said Gordon as he glanced up at Kiryuu's body in the middle of the hangar bay. He glanced over to see Maria wheel in the two Oxygen Destroyers on the dolly. "Damn-it to hell, Maria, do you have to bring those things in here?!"

"Kiryuu told me to," said Maria.

"Kiryuu!" he snapped back.

"Forgive me, Gordon," said Kiryuu.

"That thing better not go off in here," said Gordon. "What happens if it does?"

"Unfortunately, Serizawa's tests were done in water," said Kiryuu. "I have no idea what the effects would be if it was detonated in the air."

"Then, how the hell are you supposed to use those against King Ghidorah, you mechanical moron?" Gordon asked. "Hope he trips over a building and crash into the Tennessee River?"

"Actually, if his body is like ours," began Kiryuu. "Then, there is some water in him. That should be enough to kill him with the Oxygen Destroyer. All I have to do is insert the bomb into his body and ignite it."

"Kiryuu, come here," Gordon sighed. Kiryuu leaned down to Gordon. The CEO of the Utah Foundation grabbed a wadded up newspaper and smacked the bio-mecha on the snout. Kiryuu blinked in confusion. Gordon continued: "What the fucking hell are you on, you lousy, pathetic, construct of Chrysler scrap metal?! Where the hell did all of that money I spent on to build your AI go to? Cleveland? Where do you get off coming to that conclusion? I thought I built you to be smart."

Kiryuu leaned back up: "You did, Gordon."

"First you built the damned thing, now you don't know if it'll work," Gordon sighed. "Are you just going to set this thing off inside of Monster Zero and hope that it does something? Is that your plan?"

Kiryuu's golden eyes glanced away for a moment.

"It is your plan!" Gordon bellowed, his voice echoing through the bay. "You moronic, bumbling, metallic, egotistical, Intel monstrosity! I have a half a mind to unplug you right now and have your AI crushed into a cube and recycled! And just think you're the heir to my company! After this fight, the Foundation is yours. I don't know if you'll even survive long enough to get it. Hell, after realizing what your 'magnificent' plan is, I'm no sure if the Foundation will survive it even if you do."

"Gordon, that's not nice," Maria called.

"Who the fuck cares," Gordon sighed. "It's truthful."

He leaned against the railing of the catwalk. Gordon felt his heart begin to race with the temperature of his anger boiling inside of him. He began to pant as he gripped his chest. Stars filled his eyes.

"Gordon!" Maria shouted.

"Gordon, what's wrong?" Kiryuu called. "Katsura, Will, get in here!"

"Somebody bring my—pills," Gordon gasped.

Katsura and Will ran into the bay area and found Gordon leaning against the rail.

"Gordon!" called Katsura. "He's having a heart attack."

"I got the pills," Will called, bringing with him the bottle and a glass of water.

"I'm calling for the nurse," said Kiryuu. "She'll be here with a wheelchair in a moment."

Gordon took the water from Will and popped the pills into his mouth. He swallowed them down with the water and glanced back up at Kiryuu.

"That's it, Kiryuu…" he breathed. "You've got the Foundation. She's all yours. I'm calling the board of directors. You're the CEO now. All—this stress is getting to me. If you—can pull of that cockamamie plan of yours, I'll—eat my hat." He turned back to Will, Katsura, and Maria. "You three—he's your boss—behave yourselves."

The nurse came in, wheeling the wheelchair up to Gordon. Kiryuu sighed as small, slender tendrils of biosyntech gently sprouted out from his body and wrapped themselves around Gordon. He picked Gordon up with the tendrils and placed the elderly man in the wheelchair.

"Hang on there, Mr. Knight," said the nurse. "I've got a warm bed for yah."

"A bed would be nice," he agreed as she wheeled him away.

Maria glanced up at Kiryuu: "Okay, Mr. Knight, I'd have to agree with Gordon. That's the worst plan I've heard you ever cook up."

"Yeah," said Will. "Kiryuu, you're just gonna hope King Ghidorah has some sort of water inside of him for this thing to work?"

"Actually, he may have some sort of liquid inside of him," said Kiryuu. "That could react to the oxygen in the air that would make the Oxygen Destroyer work. And—there are the cells. Katsura?"

"The M0 cells," said Katsura. "From of course what Kiryuu found about a year ago by hacking into the British servers concerning the cover up of the London attack—there were cells found. King Ghidorah's a carbon based life form."

"Which means he also breathes oxygen just like the rest of us," said Kiryuu. "Or—all of you. I don't anymore."

"But—your syntech is made up of cells from the original Godzilla," said Maria. "Which can also be destroyed by the Oxygen Destroyer—everything except, it seems calcium. This is why the skeleton was left behind. If something goes wrong and that thing sets off, I don't think your armor could protect you."

"It wouldn't," said Kiryuu. "Not unless I shield myself. And I do have shields. That is—if I don't loose one of my forearm cannons during the fight."

"Which commonly happens," Katsura said. "You feel the urge to rip off a damaged cannon and the plating to use the syntech blades."

"And besides, the shield only protects the front," said Will. "Like the hard plastic, clear rioting shield SWAT teams use. It doesn't cover your whole body."

"Will, can the shields be modified to cover my whole body?" Kiryuu asked.

"I guess," Will shrugged. "I could work on one of the shield emitters to see if can. The shield technology, I'm afraid, is a bit of a mystery in itself. The technology came from Omak-Argon Industries, a company in Lexington, Kentucky. They're big Foundation supporters; their CEO Soñador Malcho appears at every Utah Foundation fund raiser. I could—call up their technical support and see if they can tell me how to modify the shield emitter to put a full shield around your body."

"Malcho…" Kiryuu rumbled. "I met him at the last fund raiser. He's the—Mexican with the strange colored eyes. They're lavender."

"He's Mexican?" Maria asked.

"He told me he was born in the Yucatan," said Kiryuu. "I'm afraid he left before you had a chance to meet him, Maria."

"Do we have any time to modify Kiryuu's shields?" Katsura asked. "King Ghidorah is already heading east."

Kiryuu closed his eyes and gathered information from one of the military satellites he was allowed into.

"He's taking his time," said Kiryuu. "From what I've gathered, he really wants to meet face-to-face with me that he's even willing to wait for me."

"Why is he putting so much effort into this meeting?" Maria asked.

"I don't know," said Kiryuu. "Here's something else. Godzilla is heading back east as well. He's swimming up the Mississippi River as we speak."

"Godzilla?" Will asked. "Guess he's looking for a match as well."

"Godzilla was too young to remember," said Kiryuu. "But, he will be there. Mothra had a feeling I would be needing him. This fight is for both of us. I don't think I can do this alone."

"What about Officer Dragon?" Will asked. "Is he gonna lend a helping claw in this?"

"He made a hint that he would when he helped me contain Biollante," said Kiryuu. "He stated that he would help me take down King Ghidorah if I would help him tackle Kraken."

"Well, you held up your end of the bargain," said Will. "Guess it's time to collect."

"So, three against one…" Maria smiled. "Kiryuu, there is something I might want to add. I remember Manda kept referring to King Ghidorah as the Hydra King. There's something about the legend of the hydra you should know."

"And that is?" Kiryuu asked.

"When Hercules cut off one of the heads of the hydra, two grew in its place," said Maria. "So, if the legend holds true, then if you try to cut off one of the heads of King Ghidorah, you might wind up with more heads than you could deal with."

"So, I might end up with 12 heads instead of three?" Kiryuu asked. "I'll keep that in mind. It's not his heads I'm worried about, it's his powers. He can do—similar things that Biollante was capable of—even worse. I hate psychic monsters. It seems I've been running into them every turn."

_Maybe you don't like psychic monsters is because you don't like people in your head, sweet Kiryuu…_Biollante chuckled. _You have too many secrets to hide._

_What did I tell you? _Kiryuu asked. _You want to help me, then cut the crap! You promised to cooperate._

_Oh, Kiryuu, I'm only playing, _she said. _What's a little play time before the fight? It'll help you loosen up. And you'll need to be. King Ghidorah is very powerful._

_Meaning you don't think you'll have the power to go against him either._

_Not alone, Kiryuu, _Biollante said. _But together, I think we can win. This is the first time I have ever hoped for anything—and my hope is to win._

_I—hope so too, _he said finally.

_I thought that you 'hoped for nothing of this world',_ she said, cocking a violet eye at him.

_Maybe there is one thing I do hope for, _Kiryuu said. _Besides, if I loose, who would run the Utah Foundation of Bio-Organic Research?_

_Well then, Mr. Knight, _said Biollante. _I guess you have a job to do. Just don't let the money go to your head._

"I know that Gordon has faith in me," said Kiryuu. "Or he wouldn't have done what he did. He needs the rest. Let me take on his worries now. Will, call Omak-Argon! I at least want some options before I go running off into something that may be way over my head in my present state. Even if I manage to stick one of the Oxygen Destroyers into King Ghidorah, I at least want some sort of protection while it goes off. It's not like I can encase him inside a fish tank and fire it."

"Sure thing, boss," said Will, whipping out his cell phone.

"Katsura, Maria, get the pack loaded with its payload and fueled up," Kiryuu continued. "And make sure I'm fueled up. I want everyone in the bay to start the launching checks. Every bit of my system needs to be checked and ready for launch. I want my boosters fueled and the gravity generators charged up as well as the AZC. It's gonna be the back up plan." Kiryuu wrapped the two Oxygen Destroys into a cocoon of biosyntech and absorbed them into his flank. "They'll be here until I'm ready to use them."

"Ryoukai, bosu," Katsura nodded.

"Sí, jefe," Maria nodded as they walked into the control room. Kiryuu glanced at Will, who proceeded to speak with the tech support at Omak-Argon.

"What?" asked Will. "You mean that Malcho wishes to talk to me? Sure, I'll hold."


	8. The Second Sun of the Ridge

**The Second Sun of the Ridge**

_1 Now the entire earth was of one language and uniform words. 2 And it came to pass when they traveled from the east, that they found a valley in the land of Shinar and settled there. 3 And they said to one another, "Come, let us make bricks and fire them thoroughly"; so the bricks were to them for stones, and the clay was to them for mortar. 4 And they said, "Come, let us build ourselves a city and a tower with its top in the heavens, and let us make ourselves a name, lest we be scattered upon the face of the entire earth". 5 And the Lord descended to see the city and the tower that the sons of man had built. 6 And The LORD said, "Lo! _they are_ one people, and they all have one language, and this is what they have commenced to do. Now, will it not be withheld from them, all that they have planned to do? 7 Come, let us descend and confuse their language, so that one will not understand the language of his companion". 8 And the Lord scattered them from there upon the face of the entire earth, and they ceased building the city. 9 Therefore, He named it Babel, for there the Lord confused the language of the entire earth, and from there the Lord scattered them upon the face of the entire earth. Genesis 11:1-9_

Jo shook her head when she read the plaque standing next to the _Tinseltown_ movie-plex. It was strange that a plaque like this would be sitting on a sidewalk in a near empty mall parking lot. The city of Oak Ridge was just as boring as watching paint dry. She was more used to a livelier city like Miami, where there were night clubs to go to, colorful culture and beautiful, tanned people walking along a warm, white beach. Here, it was gray—and cold. She knew that part of the grayness came from the ash cloud that rolled over all of Knox County and parts of Anderson County. Oak Ridge was located in the southern part of Anderson, about 15 miles away from the main city of Knoxville. Ever since the Clingman's Dome eruption, people had begun to evacuate the city of Knoxville. As had started to fall and the whole Marble City was covered in a blanket of it. Oak Ridge, on the other hand, had not evacuated. There were downed buildings from the earthquake here and there, but the city itself seemed to have survived much of it. Jo wondered why this city had not started its evacuation process. Life seemed to go on as normally as it had before the rise of the Smokies and the geological changes Tennessee seemed to be suffering. There were sirens here and there and sounds of people trying to help others get out of the downed buildings. But not much else went on. Already, ash had started to fall like snow and the city itself was slightly dusted. Jo wrapped a scarf around her face to keep the ash from her mouth. She heard on the news that Monster Zero had made its way east. It would not be long now. It almost seemed like this city was waiting for its own demise while the rest of East Tennessee was fleeing for their lives. But this plaque just puzzled her. Why would the Oak Ridge Mall have a plaque with the story of the Tower of Babel written on it? Tim Marx and Jo Cortez stopped in this town after their narrow escape from the Smoky Mountains just a few days ago. And it was here they stayed. Manda did not want to move on from here. He wanted to be close to the battle as he could. He made a promise to Kiryuu that he would assist in King Ghidorah's destruction, even if that meant he defied Mothra's orders. But he had to come here first.

Oak Ridge, Tennessee, the birthplace of the Atomic Bomb. It was here that the parts were built and the refining of the uranium was done to create the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, Japan. This city was labeled the Secret City because of the secret revolving around the atomic bomb. During the time of World War II, this city was the best kept secret of the United States. In order to build the bomb, this city sucked in more power than large cities like New York, or Los Angeles combined. There were three main stations that built the bomb, each one named for a point coordinate on the map. One was the Y-12 plant, the plant responsible of the refining of Enriched Uranium through electromagnetic processing. The next plant was the main engine of the process, K-25, which used gaseous diffusion to separate the lighter U-235 from the heavier U-238. And then there was X-10, the first plant that produced plutonium for the Nagasaki bomb. These days, the plants go by different names and have different jobs. Y-12 became the Y-12 National Security Complex, and the sole producer of plasma for naval ships and Kiryuu's power pack. K-25 became the Tennessee Technology Center, a facility that studied proper clean-up procedures of contaminated areas. And then, there is X-10, now called the Oak Ridge National Laboratory. It studies a variety of fields, biology, astrophysics, and of course nuclear physics, but lately, it has been studying up a lot on biosyntech. Though it made sense, these facilities are being funded by Lockheed Martin, the company who subcontracted the Utah Foundation of Bio-Organic Research to Japan to build Mechagodzilla. Other companies also fund Oak Ridge's main plants and income of its many citizens. One was the company known as Omak-Argon Industries, another industrial company that seems to be in with the Utah Foundation. Apparently, from what she gathered from the locals, ORNL, with the funding and supplies of Omak-Argon, created Kiryuu's shield technology. Still, no one could ever tell how the shielding works.

The shielding technology has never been reused for anything else. No military has paid Omak-Argon for the use of the technology. Apparently, this company wanted to stay out of the government's wallet. But it still agreed to allow the shields to be used on Kiryuu. So, again, it seems that Oak Ridge has another secret.

She glanced back at the mall. It was almost deserted. She had been inside before. They had open stores, name brand of course, but it seemed not very many people came to visit. She had never seen such a deserted mall before. Manda had gone off somewhere, visiting an old friend. He told her that he would be back. Manda said that this town was quiet. Everything seemed within walking distance. Manda was at the large bookstore just south of the ball, across S. Illinois Avenue. He met this rather handsome looking, very distinguished, Hispanic man wearing an Armani suit. He had the strangest looking eyes though. They were not black, nor were they blue or brown, they were magenta-lavender. That color did not seem human. He drove up in a stretch limo. And then, Manda and the man went inside the bookstore, into their coffee shop and sat down. Marx told Jo that this was a private conversation. Jo then just hung outside until she got bored. She went in to tell Manda that she was going for a walk and she had her cell phone on.

Jo glanced down, hearing her phone ring. She picked it up.

"Hey, Jo," said Manda. "How's it goin'?"

"I'm fine," she said. "How are you two?"

"Oh, great," he said. "Look, this meeting's gonna take a bit longer. He's on the phone with someone right now."

"I heard that Monster Zero is heading over here," said Jo. "And they're evacuating Knoxville. Why aren't these people leaving?"

"We'll find out," said Manda. "That's why I'm here. Can you walk back over here?"

"Marx," she began. "There's this plaque here. It's about the Tower of Babel. Why would they have a plaque that has this?"

"Did you say the Tower of Babel?" Manda asked. "Oh, good gods…Malcho! Jo, I'll call you back later, okay."

"Tim, what's wrong?" Jo asked just as the phone hung up.

Manda heavily strode over to the tall, finely dressed man. Soñador Malcho turned to him. He was a tall, handsomely built man, with broad shoulders and deep, caramel-colored skin. He had a clean shaven goatee and shoulder-length, silky black hair. But his eyes were the strangest of color, they were magenta-lavender. Manda approached Malcho, crossing his arms and looking rather fumed at the man.

"What happened, amigo?" Malcho asked.

"Jo just told me there's a plaque with the Tower of Babel written on it," said Manda. "Malcho…"

"Sí, I know," Malcho nodded.

"Malcho!" Manda cried. "The Tower of Babel! The last remains of technology built by Atlanteans! How could you?!"

"You're wondering if I am using Technomancy?" Malcho asked. "The answer is yes. Four thousand years ago, Babel fell. Then, a century ago, I found it in southern Iraq, brought the pieces here and rebuilt it. And I've been using it for the power of Technomancy ever since."

"You've got a Technomantic tower under this city," said Manda. "I thought I sensed something when I came here."

"Well, I had no choice but to use the Tower of Babel," Malcho shrugged. "You wouldn't let me have the Tower of Atlantis."

"No wonder King Ghidorah's adamant in coming here!" Manda called. "He could have risen other mountains older than the Smokies to create the Mountains of the Phoenix, but he came here! Did you not remember what happened to Atlantis? King Ghidorah came back because what we were using. Life force energy! Don't you remember the dangers of Technomancy? Don't you remember what happened at the end of the Fourth World? You of all should remember, you're old enough to remember."

"Yes, I remember," Malcho agreed. "And it was not King Ghidorah who brought about the Fifth World, but remnants of King Ghidorah. And King Ghidorah did not destroy Atlantis. If I recall, Atlantis fell long after King Ghidorah's attack. You managed to defend your island quite well with the power of Technomancy, while the rest of us who just used magic were left to suffer his wrath. Now, it's us lowly magic users' turn to have the power to defend ourselves from the likes of King Ghidorah. Come outside and see."

"There was a reason why Atlantis fell," said Manda. "It was caused by Technomancy."

"It was because you ignorant pendejos didn't have the right knowledge to use Technomancy," Malcho laughed aloud as he led Manda outside the bookstore.

"Ignorant?!" Manda roared. "Atlanteans are not dickheads! Now, look here, feather duster, we had knowledge beyond any comprehension even by the Great Dragons themselves."

"And you still screwed it up," said Malcho. "Well, this time, your folly will be my wisdom. I have learned from your mistakes and I have refined it."

Manda growled as his body shifted into his dragon form. Malcho glanced up at the blue and green dragon.

"Do not insult Atlantis, Weather Dragon," he growled. Malcho chuckled as his own form wavered. It was a smooth transformation as the CEO of Omak-Argon Industries shifted. Soon, there was not a man standing there, but a 200-foot long, serpentine, winged reptile. He was a Feathered Serpent, a dragon from Central and South America. Malcho was a Great Feathered Serpent, just as old as Manda and just as powerful magically. Malcho was covered in green feathers from head to the very tip of his tail. His wings were brilliantly colored with hues of violet, orange, red, and cool blue. Even his feathery main was pigmented to match his wings. He had a tail brush of feathers matching his wings and hidden inside the tail was a barb of venom. In ancient cultures, some mistook Feathered Serpents to be feathered cousins of wyverns, but this was not true. Though like wyverns, Feathered Serpents had a pair of wings and a pair of legs, but they were true dragons. Malcho could easily show that he was a dragon just by exhaling a fireball from his jaws. Even in his true form, his eyes were magenta-lavender, the color revealed his true nature.

Malcho fanned his wings out and leapt into the air. He was not as large as Manda. Of course he was not, Manda was a special case, owing his great stature to the Atlanteans. They had enhanced him.

"_If you want to play, amigo,"_ Malcho growled. _"We'll play right here."_

The Feathered Serpent glanced down, hearing the sound of his cell phone ringing.

"_Un momento," _he said as he wrapped his coils around Manda's neck. _"¿Hola? Oh, Will Penter. ¿Qué paso? Bueno. Everything is fine here. What's this? You're having trouble the shields? What kind of trouble? Oh, I see, you wish to make the shields wrap around Kiryuu completely. That's fine. I know, you called technical support and they were no help at all. Lo siento, mi amigo."_

"Shield technology?" Manda asked. "Kiryuu's shields, you built Kiryuu's shields? I can only guess where you got it from. Malcho, is Kiryuu using Atlantean shield technology? Is that how he's been able to use shields?"

"_Will you shut up for a moment?" _Malcho snapped back. _"No, I understand, Will. I'm glad he saved the card. Alright, there is a trick. There's a file written in the programming of the shields themselves. It's called Firefly. Find it. You found it? Good. Just follow the instructions written in the README file and you'll see how to wrap the shields around Kiryuu's body. Call me if you have any other questions. Adios."_

"All this time…" Manda breathed. "So that's where Kiryuu got the shields. I knew they were familiar. How could you do this, Malcho! I can't believe that you would steal Atlantean technology to make a cheep buck. No—wait I can."

"_You think that technology can be produce by the government?" _Malcho asked. _"And it's not Atlantean technology, it's Technomancy."_

"It's still from Atlantis," said Manda. "We were the first to implement Technomancy. Using magic to build technology far more advanced than what was there at the time."

"_And now, I have perfected it," _said Malcho. _"Follow me."_

The dragon slid off of Leviathan's shoulders and flapped his wings, flying over towards the mall. Manda followed him, his lengthy body whipping through the air as he flew. He noticed just how casual the people around Oak Ridge were being about it. Apparently, Malcho has visited many times in his dragon form around this city. The locals seemed used to it. They did not even notice the two dragons as they landed in the parking lot in front of the mall. Jo stood back, her eyes were wide when she saw the Feathered Serpent land in the parking lot. Then, she saw Manda land as well.

"Tim!" she called. "Who the hell…"

"Jo, this is Malcho," said Manda. "Malcho, my partner Jo."

"_Bienvenidos al Ciudad Atómica," _Malcho said.

"Okay, he speaks Spanish," said Jo. "Who…"

"This is the CEO of Omak-Argon Industries," said Manda.

"That industrial company from Kentucky?" Jo asked.

"_You've heard of it," _said Malcho.

"I have," she said. "You were the one who's been funding NASA a lot."

"_I want to go into space very badly," _said Malcho. _"And we also head up the aerospace and astrophysics in ORNL. And of course, we have been studying a lot on biosyntech. I have discovered something. Biosyntech and Technomancy go together like lettuce, beef, and cheese on a taco."_

"Nice analogy," said Manda. "What do you mean they go together?"

"_It's like they were made for each other," _said Malcho. _"But as much as I like to go into the details, I've got a shield to erect."_

"Shield?" Jo asked.

"The Tower of Babel," said Manda. "It has the ability to produce a shield dome around any area it stands in—like a city."

"_Like this city," _said Malcho as he clapped the hand-like claws on his wings. The ground itself began to quake as the pavement cracked and splintered through the parking lot.

"Wait, the owner of Omak is a dragon?" asked Jo.

"Yeah, he's a dragon," Manda nodded. "What? I'm a cop and a dragon as well."

"I'm just shocked," she said. "He's—a corporate dragon."

"He's a wizwyrm," Manda growled. "That's what he is."

"_I heard that," _said Malcho. He faced again just as the pavement split apart in the empty parking lot. Then, something began to rise out of the ground. Malcho launched into the air and circled just as an enormous tower of glowing blue and turquoise rose out from the ground below. Jo just stared with wide eyes. Just as soon as the tower was fully out, a beam shot up from the spire and spread across the sky like a glowing dome. Malcho landed and looked back at Manda. Manda stared at the crystalline tower of blue.

"Damn-it, Malcho," Manda sighed, recognizing the tower. "You really did rebuild Babel."

"That's the Tower of Babel?" Jo asked. "But—what?"

"The Bible version is a fake," said Manda. "The real Tower of Babel was made after the Tower of Atlantis fell a thousand years before the Fourth World ended. But they were right about one thing, when the Tower of Babel fell, no one could understand each other. A Technomantic Tower is like an Internet server, it's a nexus of information and when one is near it—even by several miles, one can understand all languages that it knows. The radius is around 20 miles. And through the tower's array, you can access information. Through the tower, we discovered how to create our advanced technology. The shield technology is a part of that."

"So, it's some sort of ancient Internet?" Jo asked.

"It's—a mixture of all sort of things," Manda said.

"_Which is hard to explain unless one is Connected to it," _said Malcho. _"It's not necessary right now for you to know how the Tower Array works. I'd like to see King Ghidorah get through that shield."_

"He's done it before," Manda sighed.

"_Cállate la boca," _Malcho growled back. _"If you don't believe me, then run. Flee from this city."_

"Kiryuu's gonna win," said Manda. "He'll defeat King Ghidorah before he comes after your tower."

"_Of course he will," _Malcho nodded. _"He has Technomantic shields. And something else as well—which he'll see when he activates him."_

Manda just shook his head: "Things are about to get worse. But at least the shield will slow King Ghidorah down."

"Why does King Ghidorah want to come here because of this tower?" asked Jo.

"Because it uses life force energy," said Manda replied. "That tower is like a big candy stick to him. King Ghidorah feeds off of life force. The Mountains of the Phoenix and this tower is why he is coming. Hey, people will notice this honking thing standing out in the middle of the city. If you're trying to hide Technomancy, you're doing a poor job of doing it."

"_The shield has been activated,"_ said Malcho. _"It also cloaks the city into invisibility."_

"Oh," said Manda. "Then, hell, they'd notice real quick if this _particular_ city disappears. Smart move. Technomancy hasn't really increased your intelligence, Malcho. It would have been better to just cloak the tower instead of the entire town!"

"_I haven't figured that out yet,"_ said Malcho.

"Oh, this is looking better by the minute," Manda sighed in sarcasm.

"_So, leave."_

"No, I'll wait," said Manda. "Just to see your ass handed to you, old fart."

"_Caramba…" _the Feathered Serpent rolled his eyes. _"I ought to turn you into a turtle and serve you in a bowl of soup, you big, blue gecko."_

"Nice," Manda chuckled. "You really must be getting up in years, Malcho. You're so old, your come backs smell worse than your farts."

Malcho let loose a powerful roar and spread his wings wide. He lifted up in the air, barring his fangs.

"Uh-oh," Manda breathed.

"Uh-oh?" Jo asked. "What do you mean 'uh-oh'? You're like three times his size."

"With Malcho, size doesn't matter," said Manda.

"_¡Vaya al Diablo, chupaverga!"_ Malcho bellowed just as the sky below the shield filled with stormy clouds.

"Oh, shit," Manda's eyes widened just as the sky lit up with lightning.

"What?" Jo asked. "I've seen you cause hurricanes."

"No, this is worse," he said as he grabbed her into his claws. The Eastern Dragon lifted off into the air just as he began to feel rocks pelt his scales. Manda glanced back seeing hail pelt his hide. Usually he would not worry about hail hitting him, except for the fact that as soon as this hail landed on him, it caught him on fire. And this was happening all over the area.

"Fire!" called Jo. "Fire from hail! Wait—where do I know this?"

"It's—one of the Ten Plagues of Moses," said Manda. "That's a long story too. Ah! My hair's on fire!"

Malcho reared his head back, lightning shooting out from his eyes. Manda glanced back just as he saw the lightning bolt race towards him.

"Ah!" he cried. "Bad day! Bad day! Bad day!"

The bolt struck him and he fell, his form shrinking down. Malcho saw Jo fall as well and swooped in to snatch her up in his dexterous hind feet.

"_I got you, muchacha!" _he called, back-winging as he landed. And below Malcho glanced down, seeing a boiling, black cauldron where Manda had fallen. Out popped a snapping turtle's head from the water. _"The soup is ready."_

"Timothy!" Jo cried, realizing who that was inside the cauldron. "You change him back, puto!"

"Malcho!" called a high-pitched voice from the turtle. "You old bastard! Change me back!"

"_Ah, mi amigo,"_ Malcho chuckled. _"I'll keep you in there until the fight starts. Then, I'll let you out."_

"This water is hot!" Manda called. "And this shell's itchy. I don't like being a turtle!"

"_Deal with it," _Malcho growled. He turned his great head to see Jo pull out her pistol. _"And what are you going to do with that, muchacha? Shoot me with it? Go ahead. Bullets cannot harm me."_

"Jo!" Manda called.

"Change him back, peacock!" Jo yelled, fingering the trigger of her gun. "Now!"

"_I shall," _Malcho stated with a bored yawn. _"But for now, we'll just have to see. Take a good look at it, Leviathan." _The Feathered Serpent glanced back at the Tower of Babel. _"Isn't it beautiful?"_

"No, it isn't," Manda said. "You're making a huge mistake here."

"_When it is all over, you'll see that I'm not," _said Malcho. _"When Atlantis tried to implement Technomancy, the world wasn't ready. I say it's ready now."_

"When King Ghidorah comes knocking on this shield," began Manda. "You'll see how wrong you are."

"_Then, let's wager," _said Malcho. _"If I loose and Kiryuu fails to stop King Ghidorah and King Ghidorah comes here, I'll take down the tower immediately, before he even has a chance to get to it. I'll destroy it. But if I win, you'll give me the Tower of Atlantis."_

"You bastard," Manda growled. "Why the fuck would I agree to a wager like that?"

"_Do you have a choice?" _he asked. _"My tower for yours. I bet you haven't even Connected once since Atlantis fell. I bet you even forgot how."_

"Get me out of this pot and I'll show you otherwise!" the turtle screamed back.

"_Luego, amigo," _Malcho chuckled as he leaned up against a street light. _"I know what you're thinking. Mothra forbade you from fighting King Ghidorah. She told you this was Kiryuu and Godzilla's fight. But you want to defy her. Why do you always follow the rules of that bug anyways?"_

"Don't insult Mothra!"

"_You are here, ready to fight Ghidorah," _said Malcho. _"And yet she sits pretty on her island, far away from the fight."_

"Shut-up!"

"_Oh, she's a manipulative little bitch, isn't she?" _the Feathered Serpent chuckled. _"I wonder if she gave you the idea that Technomancy is bad."_

Manda glanced away. He closed his eyes and focused. King Ghidorah was coming, but so was Godzilla. Kiryuu will indeed follow after that. Malcho, Kiryuu, the biosyntech, and now finding out that the thing that brought King Ghidorah to Atlantis that drove Kraken insane, that helped his beloved island sink to the ground has come back to haunt him. The power of Technomancy came from the life force of not only this planet, but others as well. That was why those who used it had an understanding of the physics of the universe itself, but still—they lacked the wisdom to use it properly. And it caused untold deaths. And King Ghidorah fed off of those deaths, even long after Atlantis managed to defend themselves. He waited and watched as the island tried to use Technomancy as a weapon and wiped itself off of the surface of the ocean. All that was left was the Tower of Atlantis, the central power source of Atlantis. And they tried again, those who knew how to erect a tower. They tried it with the Tower of Babel. And even that failed. Of course that thought arose to him again. If Technomancy drew King Ghidorah back to Earth thousands of years ago, then what brought him back this time?

"Malcho," began Manda. "Why did King Ghidorah attacked London? Did they have a tower there too?"

"_No, they didn't," _said Malcho. _"There's only two towers that exist above the sea. The Tower of Babel and the Tower of Lexington. I did what I could to keep the two towers off Ghidorah's radar during that attack."_

"So, you've created your own tower to power your company's industry," said Manda.

"_Created it in order to power the machines that built the shield technology," _said Malcho. _"Smaller fragments of the tower are inside Kiryuu's shield emitters. I sold the technology to the Utah Foundation and made a pretty penny off of it. Each time they destroy a forearm cannon, they pay me again to build another emitter. As for London. It really was the cells that brought him there. He's drawn to it like Godzilla is drawn to Kiryuu's cells. Of course, knowing this country, they might make a huge mistake and try to create another Biollante—this time with Ghidorah cells."_

"Let's just hope they don't," said Manda. He glanced over at Jo. "You okay?"

Jo settled down on the sidewalk and holstered her pistol: "Yeah. Just dandy."

Manda glanced back at Malcho once more: "Even if Kiryuu defeats King Ghidorah, this land isn't gonna go back to the way it was, is it?"

"_No, amigo," _sighed the Feathered Serpent. _"It isn't. I'm afraid that even with the defeat of King Ghidorah, this world will be forever changed. The time of the Fifth World is coming to an end. The Sixth World is coming. Magic will fully return and—great—maybe terrible things will happen. This is why I have brought back Technomancy. Perhaps with it, I can help prepare this world for what is about to happen."_

"Or make it worse," Manda sighed.

"_You will see," _said Malcho. _"I will show you. And remember, the Tower of Atlantis will be mine."_

King Ghidorah leaned all three of his heads back. He took in the air, reveling in the smell of death and destruction. He could already sense the foul vapors from the two volcanoes he created as he drew nearer to East Tennessee. He followed along I-40. It was perfect. As every vehicle tried to escape the volcanoes, they found themselves in deeper trouble. They found the space dragon waiting for them. And they were there, lining themselves up for the slaughter. He walked across the highway, a grin appearing on each of his heads. King Ghidorah folded his wings back across his back and his twin tails wagged in the air. They were so frightened of him that they were afraid to leave their vehicles.

_Delicious, _he projected. _I could never have planned it better. Oh, perhaps I could, but this worked out beautifully._

He could sense their fear as they sat in the cars. He could see each and every one of them tremble beneath him as he drew closer. He licked his lips with his forked tongues.

_Now, don't be afraid, _he said. _It'll be all over soon. Fighting it will only make it more difficult._

The great space dragon let loose a powerful bellow and the vehicles on the highway flipped back. He heard their screams as the cars flipped. King Ghidorah let loose his lightning upon them and watched as they exploded. King Ghidorah again smiled as the tiny, sparkling, golden lights flowed up towards him again. The dragon absorbed them into his body. King Ghidorah's heads turned to the east when he felt something familiar. It was a familiar energy and he smiled when he felt it.

_Oh, so it's still around, _he said. _I thought I sensed it. I knew this would be the perfect place to set up shop. This state holds such a delightful buffet, and now, they've produced desert as well. How wonderful this state is._

He heard voices and sounds coming up from the ridge and he turned his head to them. There, he saw an army of tanks, jeeps, and men pull themselves up and formed a flank around him. King Ghidorah could only chuckle as he watched them gather around him. And he decided to stand there in defiance of them. He knew that they would do little to him now. Maser tanks also rolled around him.

_It is useless to struggle, my friends, _he said. King Ghidorah heard the one in charge shout out and the defense against him fired upon him.

_I have no time for this, _the dragon growled._ I have a date to hold._

King Ghidorah launched himself into the air, flapping his wings swiftly. He heard the sounds of jets following him as he flew east. One of his heads turned around and found five jets following him. King Ghidorah glanced up, seeing a bomber above him.

_Americans are persistent, _he chuckled. The bomber above opened its payload doors. King Ghidorah turned and barrel rolled over, his wing swatting the bomber away from his back. He felt the five other jets fire their missiles at shim; the force of the explosions jerked his flight. But they did not bring him down. King Ghidorah swerved and flipped over, firing his lightning upon them. He landed once more as balls of fire that were once the jets fell before his feet.

_That was amusing, _he thought. Then, he turned back towards the energy again. _They really have done it, haven't they? They've created another tower. And Leviathan is there as well. I shall get rid of them all in one setting. This is working out more beautifully than I ever could hope for. Kiryuu, Leviathan, Biollante—and that Feathered Serpent. Oh, I remember him so very much. That 'killing of the first born' bit he did 5 thousand yeas ago, a work of art. He would have done well as my understudy if he wasn't so—annoying. No matter, they will all die anyways._

King Ghidorah glanced back at Nashville, or what was left of it. Every building had been destroyed. He smiled at his work and lifted off once more into the air, flying east.

_Everything is falling into place…_


	9. Secrets Revealed

**Secrets Revealed**

He slowly phased through the door and then turned around to knock on it. He stood there silently in the infirmary to be acknowledged.

"Come in, Kiryuu," he heard a weakened, raspy voice call to him. "Come in."

"Gordon," Kiryuu began. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm—stable," Gordon replied as he saw the hologram walk up to the side of his bed. Kiryuu sat down in the chair beside the bed and cast a concerned glance at his 'creator'. "Kiryuu, I'm sorry I yelled at you. I know—you have some history with King Ghidorah."

"You actually believe that?" Kiryuu asked. "You do believe that I am the original Godzilla brought back to life?"

"I know that you believe it," Gordon said. "And I suppose that's all that matters."

"I—don't know what I believe anymore," he sighed, looking away. "Sometimes, I can't tell who I am. Am I K-I or am I the original Godzilla? I have both memories."

"You are Kiryuu Knight," Gordon breathed. "Don't—let anyone—take that away."

Kiryuu nodded and took in a deep breath. Gordon reached out to him and Kiryuu took his hand into his claw, clasping it tightly as if he was holding onto what future he had left in this chaotic world.

"You—lied to me, Kiryuu," he stated. "You told me that you wouldn't build one. I thought—that I could trust you. I know—why you lie often. You—want to protect me."

Kiryuu glanced away, lowering his head.

"You don't want me to know what you're doing—because you wanted to protect me—and this company," Gordon said. "If—anything happens—you would take—the blame. But—Kiryuu, it doesn't work like that. Because you are—owned by this company—the company will still be blamed for—your mistakes. Though—we see you—as a real person—the world still does—not. But I will fix that."

Kiryuu rose up slowly, staring back at Gordon with even more of a concerned look. Gordon rose a PDA up and winked at him.

"Like—you," he began. "I am quite—capable of spreading information through the web." He slowly began to press some buttons on the PDA and several files fluctuated on the plasma screen. He turned back towards Kiryuu. "Throw—another monkey wrench in—the gears of the world? How—about I just throw you—at them completely."

"Gordon," Kiryuu breathed. "I don't understand why you are doing this."

"If—you are to be the new CEO of the Utah Foundation," Gordon began. "They must know who they are dealing with. No doubt you—will be required to retake the Turing Test. They—would want verifiable proof of your sentiency."

"Gordon…"

"Kiryuu," Gordon began. "I am—doing this because it needs to be done. And it—will stop you from doing anything else that you are capable of doing. Because—the world will be keeping their eyes on you. You'll—be too busy fighting them off to do any other underhanded trick you're capable of doing. You're no longer in the shadows, Kiryuu."

Kiryuu glanced away again.

"I took away the one thing you had—going for you," Gordon said. "I took away your cloak. Now that you are revealed, you'll have a more difficult time in—being conniving. And you'll have the company. You'll have all the resources you'll need to do what you want to do, but you can't do it because people would be watching. You wouldn't want to do anything that will ruin the company."

"So, that's why you're giving it to me," Kiryuu rumbled deeply. "To stop me from being—me."

"You're not the only—one who can be—manipulating and deceitful," Gordon chuckled. "How do you think I started—this company? With honesty?"

"I see," Kiryuu said. "Now, you want me to be honest."

"I want you—to stop dragging this—great company down," said Gordon. "With your constant hacking into places you shouldn't be going into. I know—why you wanted the information on the Oxygen Destroyer. It—wasn't to solve some—damned curiosity about how you died. No, you thought that if a weapon was that powerful enough to destroy the first Godzilla, than it damn sure would be powerful enough to destroy King Ghidorah. That's your logic. I know you Kiryuu—I know how you think."

Kiryuu sighed again and sank down into the chair once more. For the first time he actually felt ashamed for lying so much to Gordon. He leaned his elbows down on his thighs and shook his head with grief. Only the sounds of the heart monitor beeping was heard and each time it beeped it sent a shiver down his spine. He could hear Gordon's shallow breath rasp slightly. Then, he glanced up at Gordon, realizing something.

"Gordon," he began. "If I may ask a question."

"Sure," Gordon said.

"You've had heart problems for a long time," Kiryuu continued. "And the first prosthetic implant that the Utah Foundation ever created through biosyntech back in the 70s was a heart. So, why have you not gotten a biosyntech heart?"

Gordon chuckled weakly: "I promote our products. I really do. We have done such great wonders for people who needed a heart, a liver, arms, legs. We have received emails and letters from our customers, stating how we've helped them, saved their lives—how they appreciate biosyntech. One said that he received his biosyntech kidneys in just a few days where as finding a proper donor would have taken weeks maybe years—and he said because of his new kidneys, he would never have to go on a dialysis machine ever again. He could be free to live his life the fullest without worries. I felt that I have done something wonderful by creating the Utah Foundation. But, then I began to realize my own mortality. I realized that having the ability to replace old, worn-out parts could extend someone's life. And I'm all for that, but not for me. I—want to live the life that God had intended for me. And—if he intends for me to die of a heart attack, than that is what will happen. The thing is, I created a choice as well. If—I don't—want syntech, I don't have—to have syntech. I want—my customers to choose."

Kiryuu nodded.

"Also," Gordon continued. "There has been a fear that has been boiling in my mind—Kiryuu. Seeing you—how we've brought back a dead skeleton back to life—replacing everything with biosyntech, I've began to wonder. I wonder—if we would still—be human if—we all became—like you—completely made out of—syntech. Would—life be valued the same—way? If—a part fails, we could always replace it—with a better—working part? If we found that—the parts we have in our bodies that we were born with, were inferior, would we replace them with—better parts—with syntech parts? That—that is not why I created this company. I—wanted to find a way—to help people in need who truly needed it. Giving a poor little girl who lost her leg a new leg so she could run and play with her friends—and not have to sit on the side in a wheel chair, that's why I built this company. Kiryuu, I did not build this company to create—immortal, cyborg—creatures who think that because their own bodies are inferior—so they replace them with new—and better ones. The—humans are not—cars! We—shouldn't be—like you, Kiryuu. We're—not supposed to live as long as you have."

"Why are you telling me this?" Kiryuu asked.

"I—want you to know my views," said Gordon. "But, I know you won't listen. I know—that sooner or later, you'll turn this company into—something that people—without real needs—could get syntech—to be better than they are. You'll develop the company to where people can replace entire bodies with new cybernetic ones if they wanted to. That—should only be left for people who truly need it—like quadriplegics—or people with cerebral palsy. But—I have a feeling you'd go against my wishes."

"Then why give me the company?" Kiryuu asked.

"Because I know that despite what plans you have," Gordon replied. "There will always be a Utah Foundation that will still be there to help those in need. I know that you'll continue to have the Foundation be the company I wanted it to be—the company that helps those who truly need it. You—must never give the Foundation to anyone—ever. I don't care if they offer a better deal—don't give the Utah Foundation up."

"I won't," Kiryuu replied. "I won't let the Utah Foundation go. I will honor your requests."

"You better not," Gordon said. "It's cheaper for the CEO to get his repairs done by his own company than to go somewhere else."

"I know," said Kiryuu. "Gordon…"

"Don't say anything right now, Kiryuu," Gordon sighed. "Are you—preparing to fight this dragon?"

"Yes," Kiryuu replied. "They are making the necessary adjustments, charging up the AZC, my weapons…"

"What about the maser cannons?" Gordon asked. "You gonna have them put back into your mouth?"

"I—don't need them anymore," Kiryuu said.

"You think you can pull off another plasma blast?" Gordon asked.

"Yes," Kiryuu nodded, his voice showing his certainty.

"Well, you did it once," Gordon sighed, shaking his head. "How—how would you know that you can do it again?"

"I—just do," Kiryuu replied. "I can't explain it."

"How—how do you produce it?" Gordon asked. "We never built you with that ability."

"I don't know that either," he replied. "It is illogical I know. But considering what all has happened, I'm beginning to accept the illogical."

"Finally got that paradox blocker installed, huh?" Gordon asked.

"My head won't explode when another one comes up, if that's what you mean," Kiryuu smiled back. "I found that dealing with humans, there would always be paradoxes. And I can't do anything to stop it. Might as well accept it then."

"Good answer," Gordon chuckled. "Kiryuu, be careful out there when you fight this Monster Zero. Seems like he's been a thorn in your side since the beginning, but don't let that cloud your judgment. I'm—counting on you. You have to make it to take over, you know."

"I will do all that I can," Kiryuu said. "But, about…"

"The PDA?" Gordon asked. "You'll be met with a surprise when you come back—that is if you come back."

"What is to become of me when they find out?"

"You will come to that bridge when it happens, Kiryuu," Gordon said. Kiryuu looked up at him, his eyes widening when he began to read what the message was behind that.

"Gordon…you—can't," Kiryuu began, kneeling down to him. "Gordon…"

"Now—you're worried," Gordon chuckled weakly. "No—I'm not ready to go—yet, but it is getting very close. I'm—72 years old, Kiryuu. I'm an old man. I'm way overdue for—retirement. And I just want to leave this company with—a good feeling inside knowing that—you will be taking good care of it. Now, leave me be. I need my rest and—you need to do your job. Give that damned dragon a good kick in the ass for ole Gordon, will you?"

"I will—Gordon," Kiryuu said. His body in the hangar bay had tears falling from its eyes.

"Good-bye, Kiryuu," he said as he closed his eyes. Gordon Knight turned away from Kiryuu and the hologram left the infirmary. Kiryuu leaned up against the door outside the infirmary and slid down slowly onto the floor, weeping. He leaned over, placing his head into his claws as he wept, wrapping his tail around his crossed legs.

"Mondai nan desu-ka, Kiryuu-san?" asked a small voice beside him. Kiryuu looked up and found Io Shinoda sitting beside him.

"Nanimo," Kiryuu replied, continuing in Japanese. "I'm just—worried."

"Why?" Io asked.

"I don't know why," he replied. "I wish I did."

Kiryuu looked up at her and she could tell there was a weight that was on his shoulders that he did not think he could bear. Io sat down beside him and glanced up at him.

"Is it about King Ghidorah?" she asked.

"Partially," Kiryuu replied.

"I know you'll defeat him, Kiryuu-san," said Io. "You have to. You have to come back to help me find my father."

"There are a lot of things I have to do from now on," Kiryuu said. "I just don't think I can do them all. But I—will try to find you father. That is if—I do come back."

"Don't say that, Kiryuu," said another voice. Kiryuu glanced up and saw Katsura standing beside Io. "You will come back."

"Katsura," Kiryuu began as he rose up onto his feet. "When I leave here, I want you to have that stopper in that port in your neck. To—protect you. If I don't make it…you won't—die."

"Kiryuu," Katsura began. "Don't say that. Please."

"Katsura," Kiryuu wrapped his arms around her, hearing her sob. "Go inside and attend to Gordon. I—I am very worried about him. He—needs someone to look after him while I'm gone."

Katsura glanced up and saw the look in his eyes.

_I am very worried about him, Katsura, _Kiryuu projected to her.

_Gordon? _She asked.

_Keep an eye on him for me, _he told her. Katsura leaned away, placing a hand on her mouth. Io came over to her and held out her hand. Katsura took it and lead her silently into the infirmary.

_Kill that dragon, Kiryuu, _he heard a very hateful tone coming from Katsura as she disappeared behind the door.

Kiryuu glanced up, seeing Maria duck back behind the corner. He rushed over to her only to find that she was walking down the corridor away from him.

"Maria!" Kiryuu called. "Maria!"

His form disappeared only to reappear again right in front of her.

"Maria!" Kiryuu called, grabbing her arms. "Why are you running from me?"

Maria turned around and attempted to punch him in the face. Kiryuu dodged and caught her fist before it made contact to his nose.

"Baboso!" Maria spat.

"What did I do this time, Maria?"

"You think you're gonna die," she said. "Is that it? You just gonna face King Ghidorah and let him kill you?"

"No!" Kiryuu bellowed. "That's—why are you thinking that?"

Maria struggled against his grip and turned around, trying to throw him over her shoulder.

"Maria!" Kiryuu called. "Maria! Stop it!"

Maria fought against his grip as he spun her around, crossing his arms and hers across her chest. Maria felt her body lower to the ground by Kiryuu's own force. He bent over her, holding her tightly with his arms. Will's new upgrades to the hologram were incredible. He was completely solid in hologram form. He could even feel Maria through the hologram. He could feel her struggle against him.

"Maria, please…" Kiryuu rumbled, trying to calm her down. "Please, don't do this. Let's not fight—before I have to go."

He leaned her down to the floor until she was lying flat on her stomach and he pinned her with his weight. Maria flipped herself over, fighting against Kiryuu once more.

"Let me go, pendejo," she growled at him. "I mean it! Let me go!"

"I'm not going to let him kill me," Kiryuu growled at her. "I—I just don't think I will survive the fight."

"Don't—don't ever think that," Maria looked at him with tears in her eyes. "Please. If you think you won't survive, then you won't. You have to optimistic. It's all in your head Kiryuu."

Kiryuu sighed and just nodded his head. He leaned down and kissed her passionately on the lips. His grip loosened and he felt her arms wrap around his neck. Maria was just enjoying it, running her hands through his dreads. She pulled away from him, turning her head slightly as he kissed just under her ear.

"Kiryuu," she began, her breath becoming labored as he kissed her. "If someone were to walk in on us—they might be getting the wrong idea as to what we've been doing."

"I'd say that they would have the right assumption, Maria," Kiryuu purred softly, kissing her neck again. He was rewarded with a moan from his partner and felt her grip him tighter. He growled, burying his face into her hair. Somewhere, in the back of her mind, Maria wanted Kiryuu to finish. But she knew that right now, he could not. Maria pulled him away from her and let the feeling subside.

"You're just gonna have to come back in one piece then so we can finish this later," Maria smiled at him. "Our little—personal victory celebration."

"Then, I shall do all that I can to make sure I do come back alive," he chuckled as he leaned up off of her. "So we can finish this."

"Where should we try this time?" she asked.

"The broom closet is one of my favorites, querida," Kiryuu replied with a sheepish smirk. "Nice and dark."

He got back onto his feet and took her by the hand, lifting her up off the floor. Maria straightened out her blouse and her hair. Kiryuu sighed for a moment when he sensed Will calling him through the bay.

"I have to go," he said. "Lo siento."

"Está bien, Kiryuu," Maria said. "Go fight that horrible monster. Kick his ass."

"Sure thing," Kiryuu chuckled. "Adios."

"Buena suerte," Maria called as she watched his image fade away. "Mi amor."

Kiryuu walked down the corridor. Though he could easily just jump form one projector to another, he felt like walking. Walking took time and that gave him time to think and collect his thoughts on the fight ahead. As he walked he glanced around at the building that had been his home since he had returned from Japan to fight Biollante. Biollante was keeping quiet right now, keeping to herself in the back of his CPU. Even she seemed worried about what will happen. Biollante seemed insistent that Kiryuu would only be for her to torment. She did not like the idea that someone else was playing with her personal toy. She did not like sharing.

_After this is done, _Biollante began, sensing that Kiryuu was thinking about her. _Things will return to normal and you'll be my plaything again._

_Like I would enjoy that…_Kiryuu rolled his eyes.

_You enjoy having Maria as your plaything right now, _Biollante chuckled. _You certainly enjoyed her just a few minutes ago. You almost lost yourself in the passionate moment between you two. Though, Katsura seemed to be taking it well…_

_What did I tell you about messing with me, Erika? _Kiryuu asked.

Biollante sighed and became silent again, not really feeling like making her usual retort. She rolled her eyes and coiled up again back into the corner of his mind, placing her lengthy, alligator-like snout under her green claws.

Kiryuu growled and returned his thoughts to the fight. He walked down the hallway silently. Then, he paused for a moment, feeling the temperature inside the corridor drop. Something was strange to him. Though he could tell whether or not his hologram was grasping something, or something leaning against the hologram, he could still not register temperature changes. Something was making him feel this way. He heard the eerie howl of the wind blowing through the hall and he watched with eyes wide as the hall itself slowly began to ice over. Ice covered the surface of the walls and on the carpet floor. Icicles hung off of the ceiling and the florescent lights flickered as if they were about the fail.

_Kiryuu! _Called Biollante in his head as she got up from the corner she laid herself in. _It's an illusion! King Ghidorah!_

_I see the guard dog is still at her post, _chuckled a hollow, deep voice into Kiryuu's head.

_Leave Kiryuu alone, Goldilocks, _Biollante growled. _He's mine. He belongs only to me and no one else!_

_Goldilocks…_Kiryuu chuckled.

_Found that funny, did you? _King Ghidorah asked. Kiryuu suddenly felt a weight of cold crash down upon him and he knelt down, shivering. Every bit of his body was frozen from the nightmare that King Ghidorah was feeding his mind.

_Stop it! _Kiryuu cried. _Stop it!_

_You heard him!_ Called Biollante.

_Where are you, little Kiryuu? _King Ghidorah asked, his voice gave off a mocking tone. _Why have you not come to see me? Are you afraid of me? Godzilla is on his way, you know. Tennessee's own forces are trying frantically to defeat me. And I'm making my pace across the state. But I'm almost to Knoxville and you have yet to make your move. Come and see me Kiryuu. I wish to look upon the changes you have been through. I want to see you so much. Are you ignoring me?_

"I am not ignoring you," Kiryuu breathed.

_Don't think you can survive the fight?_ King Ghidorah asked. _So, you've got cold feet._

Kiryuu tucked his claws under his armpits, mimicking one of the gestures a human would do when they were cold. It seemed comforting for him, though it was fruitless. This was all in his mind.

_That's it!_ Called Biollante. _It is all in your mind, Kiryuu. See through it. Let me help you._

Kiryuu concentrated, visualizing Biollante wrapping him up in her green tentacles. He felt her rub his face with her claw, calming him down. Kiryuu took in a virtual breath and closed his eyes.

_Breathe, Kiryuu…_

_You two seem to be working perfectly now, _King Ghidorah chuckled.

_Back off, asshole! _ Biollante snapped. _When Kiryuu gets to Knoxville, he is gonna mop the whole town with your face._

"For once I have to agree with her," Kiryuu said. "That is exactly what I will do. I want you off my planet, dragon. And I will make sure you'll never come back."

_Then, come to me, _King Ghidorah grinned. _I shall enjoy our little visit._

Kiryuu opened his eyes again and he found that the ice was gone. The temperature he sensed had returned to normal and King Ghidorah's mind had separated from his.

_He's gone, Kiryuu, _Biollante informed. _But I have to agree with him on your procrastination. The sooner you can get there, the sooner we can get this over with!_

"Very well," Kiryuu nodded.

His hologram vanished and his mind returned to his body. Kiryuu opened up his eyes seeing that the last preparations to his weapons systems were already being made. Kiryuu glanced around for a moment. He lifted his claw up to his head and felt that the helm had been put upon his head.

"Will," he called. Will poked his head out from the control room.

"Yeah, pal?" he asked.

"Are you sure I should be wearing the helm?"

"Yeah," he said. "You never go into battle without it."

"It seems that every time I do, some monster always manages to rip it off," Kiryuu said. "It seems replacing the helm or repairing the helm when it's damaged is wasting valuable money the company needs."

"I guess you got a point there," Will said. "You're the boss, boss. If you don't want it, then it comes off. But those external relay cords have to be protected some how."

"They are made from G-Cells, Will," Kiryuu replied. "They can be regenerated when damaged."

"I guess you're right," Will said. "This—will be the first time that Mechagodzilla has ever gone into battle without the helm."

Kiryuu reached up and unsnapped the helm from his face. He shook his green dreads free and smiled back at Will. He glanced back at the longer dread cords that sprouted from the base of his head and neck. They attached themselves securely to the auxiliary rockets pack that was slung over his back and shoulders. The other cords of his green dreads fed their way through his armor and attached themselves to the forearm cannons main control ports. He was fully linked with his external weapons.

"The AZC is all charged and ready," said Will. "Boosters are ready, as well as the gravity generators."

"Remind me to send another big check to DaimlerChrysler for the new upgraded grav generators they sent us," said Kiryuu. "Their technicians have told me that these should allow me to jump even farther and increase my ground speed than the old ones."

"I hope so," said Will. "We've ran the tests on them, but we really never tested them fully out on the field. Those old generators just didn't have the power. Sure, they were great for their time, but they were due for an overhaul. Where's Maria and Katsura?"

"With Gordon," said Kiryuu. "It's alright, we don't need them."

"It just feels like not a real launch without Gordon barking 'launch'," Will sighed.

"Well, I do have his voice," Kiryuu chuckled. "So—launch!"

"Eh, doesn't have the same impact," Will said as he thought about the voice.

"Will!" Kiryuu bellowed. "Let's go."

"Oh!" said Will. "Sorry. Launching."

Kiryuu glanced up as the body arms leaned away from his form and the bay doors opened up at the top. The lift carried him up to the 'parking lot' above. Kiryuu glanced around as he was fully lifted up out of the bay area.

"Good look, Mr. Knight," Kiryuu heard Will's voice through the comlink. "Bring me back one of those Smoky the Coonhound UT mascot—stuffed animals when you come back."

"I didn't know you were a Vol fan," Kiryuu said.

"Only when they're not playing Florida," Will chuckled. He heard Kiryuu's deep, melodic voice laugh through the speakers. Kiryuu revved up the gravity generators and leapt up into the air. He fired the boosters and streaked through the sky, connecting with the Shirisagi to make the long-range flight to Tennessee.


	10. Knoxville, City of Ash

**Knoxville, City of Ash**

Mike chewed on his coffee stirrer, staring in anxiousness as he watch the blip on the black screen move across its surface. Tochi was busy as well, monitoring the trajectory of the blip. That blip was not Kiryuu, nor was it King Ghidorah. That space dragon had already made it to Knoxville, lying waste to the Marble City. No, that blip was none other than Godzilla. Tochi pulled out the papers that printed out on the back wall. He turned back around and slid his chair on over towards Mike.

"Here we go, buddy," he said. "Check this out. Godzilla is making a B-line up the Mississippi."

"Kiryuu's either gonna be happy to see him or very pissed," said Mike.

"Probably both, knowing Kiryuu," said Tochi. "We better radio this in. Where is he?"

"Flying over Memphis now," said Mike. "He'd better hurry. Monster Zero's in Knoxville, tearing the whole town up right now."

"Actually, that's Maryville," said Tochi.

"I think they pronounce it as Mar-ville," Mike commented.

"Mar-vi—Mar-ville…" Tochi made the attempt at correcting himself. "Tennesseans are strange. It's like they speak a completely different language. And I thought learning English was hard enough."

"I constantly questioned what language the South spoke," Mike chuckled. He typed over the keyboard and called up the channel to Kiryuu. "Hey, Kiryuu, you read us?"

"Somewhat…" Kiryuu replied, his voice breaking up here and there because of the static. "There's some interference coming from the satellite. It might be from the irruptions, but I don't see how since they've been quite small. What is the update, Mike?"

"King Ghidorah's in Maryville," said Mike. "It's about 15 miles south of Knoxville, located where Tyson McGhee Airport is."

"That's their local airport," said Kiryuu. "I'm sure it's shut down because of the ash fall. A millimeter of ash from a volcano is enough to shut down an airport. No doubt though the whole city of Knoxville has been evacuated. I'm coming up on I-40 now and I am about to disengage from the Shirisagi."

"Roger that," said Tochi. "Good luck, Kiryuu."

"Thank you," the bio-mecha replied.

Mike glanced back at Tochi; a concerned look appeared upon his face.

"What's wrong?" Tochi asked.

"You think he can win?" Mike asked.

"Sure," Tochi nodded. "He's—he's Kiryuu. He has to win."

"Yeah," Mike nodded.

"He has to win," Tochi repeated, trying to remind himself to keep the hope up as well. They stared back at the screen in silence as they watched the blip that was Kiryuu fly towards the other blip that was King Ghidorah. Mike reached over behind the desk and grabbed a cooler. He opened it up and took two beer cans, throwing one to Tochi.

"We're not allowed to drink on the clock," Tochi said.

"This is for when Kiryuu beats King Ghidorah," said Mike. "We crack these open and toast."

"What if he doesn't?" Tochi asked.

"Then, we crack 'em open and drink ourselves stupid until the world ends," Mike said.

"Good enough," Tochi sighed. "Kick his ass, Kiryuu!"

Godzilla swam through the maze of waterways in this enormous land mass. This was the farthest inland he had ever traveled into in any area. This land where Kiryuu, his father, made his home was massive. He was more used to the island, more used to the small island where the little creatures lived. But this, this was different. He sensed his father above the water, heading in the same direction. The river that he traveled through grew narrower and shallower the farther he swam. Soon, he would run out of water to travel in and he would have to make landfall. No one, not even the little creatures and their strange devices impeded his course through this continent. Perhaps King Ghidorah had scared them off. Godzilla paused, finding that he could no longer swim through the water. His feet were dragging on the soft clay mud beneath him and it slowed him down. He had no choice; he had to lift his head up. Godzilla was smart; he knew that traveling through the rivers would conceal his movement to the tiny creatures. At least this time he was obeying his father's wishes. Dealing with those tiny creatures would slow him down even more. But now, he had to raise his head. Godzilla lifted only his head partially out of the water, his eyes glancing around. Above him was a dark gray cloud and all around gray-white specks fell from the sky. He raised his head up further and glanced around again. So far, so good, and no tiny creatures. He was in a wooded area with sparse signs of civilization. There was a road though, but it was mostly gravel and not well kept up. He had to plow his way through strange stone walls barring his way through the river he traveled in every few 50 miles or so. There was a whole chain of them he had to go through straight from the large river he swam up from. The last one he went through had a scent of something that hungered him. Now, he was in this wooded area. That scent was still there though. Godzilla pulled himself up completely out of the water and stepped onto the land. And then, he saw what he smelled and his mouth began to water.

There they were, two rising coolant, bowl-shaped towers of a nuclear power plant. Godzilla glanced around for a moment and then glanced up. His father was not here. He sensed that his father was closer to King Ghidorah than he was. Perhaps his father will defeat King Ghidorah before he gets there and he could be there to congratulate him. Godzilla rumbled pleasantly when he crept slowly closer to the nuclear power plant. So far so good and no tiny creatures. No one was around.

_King Ghidorah really did scare them off,_ Godzilla thought. _Father will need me. I need to be in top shape._

He finally approached the building that housed the reactor core. Punching his claw through the roof, he grabbed the reactor core just as the sirens sounded. Godzilla understood what they meant, having done this many times before. Usually it meant that the reactor core could go critical, but he would just drain the reactor of its energy before that would happen. He absorbed the energy through his claws drawing in its power to fuel his own. He was starving and that long trek across the globe had tired him out. Godzilla closed his ruby-brown eyes and concentrated as he absorbed the radioactive energy into his body. Soon, the reactor core was dry. He reached back in and put the reactor back in its building. He felt stronger again and he reared back and bellowed powerfully. Godzilla sniffed the air and rumbled. The snack was over; it was now time for him to return to business. His father needed him.

"Shit!" Mike cried, tapping the screen. "Godzilla just attacked a reactor."

"What?" Tochi asked. "Tennessee has nuclear power? I thought they still ran off of wood."

Mike growled and shook his head. Then, he turned around and smacked Tochi on the back of the head.

"Ow!"

"They have two nuclear power plants, one in Watts Bar, and the other is in Sequoyah," said Mike. "Looks like Goji hit the Sequoyah plant."

"He must have been hungry since his trip over there," said Tochi. "Radio Kiryuu if you can get him."

"Kiryuu," Mike began. Static answered him back. "Kiryuu!"

"Mike…" began Kiryuu's voice, cracking up on the radio. "What's….ong…?"

"Godzilla hit the Sequoyah Nuclear Power Plant," said Mike.

"Can….ear you."

"I said Godzilla hit the Sequoyah plant!" Mike shouted. "Kiryuu?"

He leaned back, hearing nothing more than static over the speaker.

"Great," he sighed.

"Kiryuu will know what to do," said Tochi.

Katsura sighed as she continued to stare at the sleeping Gordon Knight. Io and Maria sat with her. Their minds were on Kiryuu and the fight, their minds were on Gordon. His breathing was becoming very faint. Katsura closed her eyes and tried to see if she could sense Kiryuu's location. She was having trouble being able to.

"Has Kiryuu made it to Tennessee yet?" Maria asked.

"I think so," said Katsura. "I can barely sense him. Will might know more than I do. Mike and Tochi are keeping an eye on things from the other base."

"The suspense is killing me," Maria sighed. "And Gordon…"

"This whole project has been his life," Katsura said. "And it's caused him so much grief but at the same time so much joy. It's sad though that he would be here instead of the control room. It's not right to watch Kiryuu fly off to fight some monster without Gordon watching him from the control room. But I think Kiryuu's latest lie was the final straw."

She glanced back just as Maria got up and turned on the TV set.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"I'll keep it low," said Maria. "But I gotta know what's going on."

Maria switched the channel over to the national news and sat back. Io scooted up to watch the news. Though she could not understand one word the reporter stated, but she saw the images well enough to know what was going on. They were images of King Ghidorah making his way east and laying waste to everything in his path.

"_Most of the people in East Tennessee have evacuated out before Monster Zero made it to Maryville," _said the reporter. _"But at this time, the monster seems to be setting its eyes on Knoxville. We just got another report saying from eye witnesses that Godzilla is also heading for Knoxville. The monster was spotted just south of Chattanooga, emerging from the Tennessee River near Sequoyah. The monster attacked the nuclear power plant in Sequoyah, draining the reactor core of its radiation. Little damage other than that has been reported. And of course the Utah Foundation's Mechagodzilla is flying towards Knoxville as well in order to fight the horrid Monster Zero. The automaton of biosyntech is flying over Kingston, following Monster Zero's path of destruction."_

Then, the scene changed as the reporter started up a new topic that caught the attention of both Maria and Katsura. They saw the image of Kiryuu, helmless and moving his mouth as if he was talking in the camera.

"_Speaking of Mechagodzilla," _the reporter continued. _"We just got some reports from various sources about the AI of the giant mecha. Built by Intel, Mechagodzilla's AI, known as K-I, is the most powerful computer in the world. Containing four Quantum processors, each one capable of processing in the terabyte range, K-I has out done every powerful military computer in the world. And listen to this, it's sentient."_

"What the hell?" Maria breathed.

"_That's right folks," _the reporter continued. _"Mechagodzilla is sentient…"_

Maria shook her head and flipped to another channel. Another reporter came on and another image of Kiryuu helmless was on the screen.

"_Kiryuu," _said the reporter. _"Meaning machine dragon in Japanese is the first AI reportedly who has passed the Turing Test. Therefore, it—or he—because of the masculine voice the machine was programmed with—has become the first sentient computer. A Japanese report came in just today after the secret about Kiryuu's sentient AI was out that a press conference with Kiryuu on camera saying that he refused to use the government satellites to monitor Godzilla. Kiryuu vocalized his refusal to the Prime Minister of Japan nearly three years ago. Which has lead to many experts wondering just why did Kiryuu attack Tokyo after being released to fight Godzilla? Was it bugs in its system, or was it the fact that Kiryuu just decided to disobey his masters?"_

"Oh God, no," Katsura breathed. "How did this happen? Who told?"

"I know I didn't," Maria said. "I love Kiryuu to much to do something like this to him."

"_Now the question is," _continued the reporter. _"When Kiryuu defeats Monster Zero, will he remain on our side?"_

"Of course he'll remain on our side!" Maria cried.

She glanced down when she heard a slight grunt from Gordon as he shifted deeper into slumber.

"Be quiet," hissed Katsura.

"Sorry," Maria whispered. "I just can't believe this!"

"Who told?" Katsura asked. "Who?"

She got up and went to the intercom, pressing the button to call Will Penter.

"Will," began Katsura. "Will, the secret's out."

"_This is undoubtedly the best kept secret since Area 51,"_ the reporter continued._ "Though skeptics are demanding that Mechagodzilla retake the Turing Test, believing that the first one may have been forged as a hoax. Government officials are demanding the same thing. When Kiryuu is through with Monster Zero, he will have to take the Turing Test again."_

"That's bad," said Will. "That's really bad."

"Can we cover it up?" Katsura asked.

"Not this time," began a raspy voice from the bed. Katsura glanced back to see that Gordon was awake. "No. This time, he'll do what they—ask. If they—want him to retake the Turing Test, then—he will."

"Gordon," began Katsura. "Did you have something to do with this?"

"I did," he replied. "And Kiryuu knows too. I did this—so that he can—become what he needs to become. He doesn't have—the Utah Foundation to hide behind anymore. He—owns the Utah Foundation now."

"Gordon, how could you?" Maria asked.

"I did what I felt was right and justified," Gordon replied back, using that statement Kiryuu had used often to explain a lot of things he has done. "Now, don't look down on me like that. You—realize how much trouble I would—be in if I hadn't done it this early in the game?"

"They think he might take over the world, Gordon!" Maria cried.

"And he's very well capable of doing such an act, Maria," Gordon chuckled. "If you haven't noticed."

"He's not gonna do that," she said defensively.

"Now he's not," Gordon agreed. "Because they're gonna keep an eye on him for now on."

"You planned this from the beginning!" Maria growled. "You horrible old man!"

"I'm—doing this for Kiryuu's own good," Gordon sighed.

"His own good," Maria growled. "Mierda…"

She grunted when she saw the satisfied look on Gordon's face. Maria stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her. Katsura sighed and sat back down on the chair. Io just sat quietly. She did not want to say anything right now. Though she did not understand most of what was said, she understood the tone of the conversation. This was not something she wanted to interrupt.

"It had to be done, no matter—if you wanted it or not," Gordon said. "Now—let's just see—how Kiryuu will fair against King Ghidorah."

"I wish you wouldn't have done this, Gordon," Katsura said. "And without my knowing, without planning—without…"

"I had this planned," said Gordon. "But yes, it was without your knowing. But Kiryuu already knows. And—yes he's—upset about it. But he will continue on no matter what."

Kiryuu narrowed his eyes when sensed that his connection had been lost. He had a contact from his 'Shadowrunner' who was trying to give him an important message. Something about his shields. Kiryuu growled again as he tried to connect again. It was useless. He could not get a proper signal with all of the volcanic activity going on. It seemed to get worse the closer he got to Knoxville. Kiryuu glanced down for a moment to see where he was. He followed I-40 directly and he found that he now was flying over Farragut. The damage around here seemed not as bad as he thought. Farragut was empty though as everyone around the area of Knoxville had evacuated before King Ghidorah arrived. Kiryuu slowed and flew over to Kingston Pike, landing in the street.

_Kiryuu…_

Kiryuu flinched for a moment when he heard that voice. Again, that was not Biollante.

_Kiryuu, why are you in Farragut? _King Ghidorah asked. _Come to Knoxville. I'm waiting. I'm circling over the university right now. I wish to speak to you before we fight._

"Speak to me?" Kiryuu asked. "What for?"

_There's so many things I wish to share before I destroy you, _he replied. _Come. Come and see what I have to show you._

"Tell me your plan," Kiryuu sighed. "And then you say: 'before I destroy you, there's something you should know'. A cliché villain statement I have ever heard."

_Quit mocking me and just come, _King Ghidorah growled. _We'll have a better view from here of the renovations I've made to the Smokies._

Kiryuu sighed and once more leapt off into the sky, following Kingston Pike all the way to the University of Tennessee's campus. Kiryuu landed in the Strip near the McDonald's and stood there, glancing up just as the magnificent form of King Ghidorah landed a few paces away from him. Kiryuu once more felt his fear crawl up when he saw the golden dragon walk gingerly over to him. Knoxville also seemed to have survived much of the damage caused by the volcanic activity in the Smokies. A few buildings here and there were toppled and the rest was covered in a fine coating of ash. Ash continued to fall from the sky like sickly-gray flakes of snow. As Kiryuu continued to stand there, even he began to have a fine coat of gray on him as the ash fell upon his head. And this began to worry Kiryuu even more. Just a sprinkling of ash would all that is needed to mess with his boosters. Kiryuu even wondered if his gravity generators would work in volcanic ash. Kiryuu had a feeling that he was grounded.

_Worried that you cannot fly because of the ash fall? _King Ghidorah asked. _No worries. I prefer a ground fight than an airborne one._

_This ash fall may hinder my speed as well, _Kiryuu thought and then kicked himself mentally, realizing that King Ghidorah must have heard him. Kiryuu tried to keep his other thoughts about what particular weapon he had with him away from King Ghidorah.

The gold dragon just chuckled as he came closer to Kiryuu.

_Ah, Kiryuu, _Ghidorah began as he sat down on his haunches like a great cat. _Look around at my beautiful city. This is the perfect place to set up shop, no? Look at what I have done to the mountains. Do you see that glow there?_

Kiryuu silently walked around the dragon and looked towards the southeast. There he saw the Smoky Mountains. They were tall, jagged, angled, and black against the horizon. He saw the glow of the mouth of the Clingman's Dome volcano as it continued to spew its fire and ash cloud all around the Knoxville area. Kiryuu glanced up to hear the sound of thunder and saw the flicker of lightning in the clouds. Though it was thundering, no rain fell, just cold, gray ash. It was static electricity caused by moving ash in the current of the wind. King Ghidorah shifted and turned around, placing a claw on Kiryuu's shoulder. The biomechanical Godzilla jerked at the unwanted touch of his enemy's paw on him and his eyes roved around.

_Just think, when I'm through, _began King Ghidorah. _This whole world will look just as dead as this city. Dead—gray, smoldering like the volcano in the Smokies. I suppose the meaning of their name has changed, huh? No longer called the Smokies because they look all smoky from the haze, now it's because they are smoking._

"Get your hands off of me," Kiryuu growled at the dragon as he shook the claw free from his shoulder. Again King Ghidorah just laughed.

_Kiryuu, _he chuckled. _I'm not done. There's lots more to show you. Turn around and look to the northwest._

Kiryuu did so and glanced towards where the clouds grew thinner.

_Do you see over that ridge? _King Ghidorah asked. _You know what's in that direction?_

"Oak Ridge," said Kiryuu. "The birthplace of the atomic bomb."

_How interesting that you are here and that little town is over there, _he chuckled again. _Edward Teller, isn't that his name? The creator of the hydrogen bomb. Didn't he work on the Manhattan Project as well?_

"He did," Kiryuu replied. "Along with Oppenheimer."

_That city, _began King Ghidorah. _Has another secret. Yes, if it wasn't the City Behind the Fence, you wouldn't have the powers that you have today. You wouldn't be as big as you are either. That city even gives you the plasma you need to fuel yourself. It is your lifeblood, Kiryuu. You owe everything to that city—that little—Podunk town that's barely even noticed by most people here. Doesn't it anger you that if it weren't for that little town, you and your dear son would still be just normal dinosaurs? You wouldn't have died that horrible death. It's all that little city's fault, isn't it?_

"If Oak Ridge had not built the bomb, someone else would have," Kiryuu replied. "So, it really does not matter who built it—it would have happened anyways and I still would probably have been mutated no matter what happened."

_Oh, Kiryuu, _King Ghidorah sighed, wagging all three heads. _You're just no fun anymore._

Kiryuu turned his head towards the dragon slightly: "I'm not afraid of you anymore, either. Now, what secret is that city hiding?"

_I shall never tell, _King Ghidorah replied. _Besides, it wouldn't be much use to you. Especially after I kill you and your son._

Kiryuu sensed the attack coming on and he leapt up into the air before the claw came down upon him. King Ghidorah reacted swiftly just as Kiryuu leapt into the air and grabbed his metallic tail. The space dragon spun around and slung his opponent into Neyland Stadium. Kiryuu collided with the bleachers on the other side of the stadium and his body toppled the Jumbotron. His fall reduced most of the Vol's stadium to rubble. Kiryuu glanced up, trying to get up off of his back. But he soon found himself pinned down by King Ghidorah's claws.

_My dear Kiryuu…_Ghidorah chuckled. _I shall not go down so easily like those other monsters you've faced. But you knew that didn't you?_

King Ghidorah grabbed Kiryuu's neck and raised him up towards his center head. Kiryuu felt the claws of the dragon dig deep into his mind and he felt his body freeze once more in terror. He could not move as he stared into those red eyes of King Ghidorah.

_Kiryuu! _Biollante called. _Don't let him get to you!_

_Still have that guard dog to keep you company, _King Ghidorah asked.

Kiryuu growled, extending out the silvery bladed tendrils from the spaces around his armor. They morphed together, forming one large blade behind his waist. Kiryuu growled again and thrusted the blade into King Ghidorah's chest. The space dragon let loose a wail agony and dropped his captive onto the ashy ground. Kiryuu glanced up for a moment and leapt into the air, grabbing two of King Ghidorah's heads, taking the dragon up into the air with him and then flinging him down into the rubble below.

_Now that's my plaything! _Biollante cackled.

Kiryuu landed onto his feet just as the space dragon growled and rose up from the rubble. Kiryuu kicked off the ground again, activating his gravity generators. Kiryuu slammed his fist into King Ghidorah's chest, knocking the dragon back again. Just as Ghidorah's tails whipped passed him, Kiryuu grabbed hold of them and flung the dragon again, sending him flying towards Hess Hall.

Malcho felt the tremor of the ground underneath him. He raised his feathery head up and shook it.

"_It's obvious, muchachos," _he began. _"The fight has begun."_

"I can't stand here, waiting for whatever outcome may be," Manda sighed, shifting around in his pot. "And this water is gettin' cold! Malcho, change me back now!"

"_Alright, alright," _the Feathered Serpent sighed. He snapped his fingers and Manda returned to his true form. _"Come on. Let's see how Kiryuu is doing."_

"Hey!" called Jo. "What about me?"

"Jo," Manda began. "It's too dangerous."

"I'm not staying here," she crossed her arms in defiance. "You're not leaving without me."

"_For once, I agree with el puto," _Malcho sighed. _"It is too dangerous and if Manda and I have to get into the fight—what could happen to you? Stay here. The shield will protect you."_

"You both could get killed!" Jo cried.

"No we won't," Manda growled as he pulled his Magnum. It was a modified Magnum, a weapon not regulated by the police force.

"_And what the hell is that?" _Malcho asked.

"My Caster Magnum," Manda chuckled. "Modified—55 caliber—shoots—these…" He held up one of the shells that his gun fired to Malcho. The Great Dragon ran a claw over them and sensed a peculiar energy coming from them.

"_Enchanted bullets?" _he asked. _"With the lack of Mana energy you have been reduced to enchanting your bullet shells with spells. Of course with the world changing, you soon won't have to enchant objects to cast powerful spells."_

"Oh, yeah, like you're the one to talk with that medallion around your neck," Manda snorted. "You can't even shape-shift back into your human form without it. And that enchanted storm you cast above my head—barely even a class 2. You're powers are just as weakened as mine."

"_Not with the tower behind me!"_

"That tower only has a radius of 30 square miles," Manda sighed. "Basically, the limit of the shield itself. Once you go outside of it, you're power will be greatly reduced. You'll have to rely on that medallion of yours to even muster up a gust of wind."

"_Gringo!" _Malcho roared, his feathers fluffing up with his rage. _"We'll see about that! You stay here, chica. The pendejo and I have some business with a hydra. Luckily the shield response to he who casts it. So, we'll be able to get back in if the battle turns bad."_

"Meaning if Kiryuu doesn't win you'll be flying with your tail between your legs, and hiding under a rock until King Ghidorah gets here," Manda sighed. "Figures. All bark and no bite. That's Malcho."

"_I'll turn you back into a turtle, baboso," _Malcho barred his fangs.

"No, you won't," Manda sighed. "You need some support if Ghidorah decides to eye us for a fight."

"_Aye caramba," _the Feathered Serpent sighed. _"Very well, culo, afuera. If we fly there now, we may be able to make it there before Godzilla does."_

"Godzilla is coming now?" Manda asked. "How the hell do you know?"

"_I can sense him," _Malcho replied. _"Now, come on. ¡Vayamos!"_

"Good luck," Jo called as she watched the two dragons fly off. Manda turned slightly and saluted. The two dragons flew through the shield, causing it to ripple. They swiftly flew southeast, following Western Avenue and landed just near the New Sentinel building. Manda glanced up as the ash fell. The air itself was a deathly cold. Malcho, being a Feathered Serpent, shivered in the cold. His kind loved the warm rainforests better than a frozen, ash-covered, lifeless wintry city. Though, he had lived in this area long enough to withstand even the blizzard of '93. But something about this made his old bones tremble. He glanced down at his feathery, colorful plumage and noticed a thin gray covering over them. It seemed the whole world itself, including him, was loosing its color. He began to worry about the fact that he was being weighted down by the ash. Malcho glanced over and saw King Ghidorah lying in the rubble that was Hess Hall. And there was Kiryuu, standing there, waiting for him to rise.

"Ghidorah isn't dead," Manda rumbled.

"_Sí," _agreed Malcho. _"Kiryuu knows that though."_

Kiryuu felt exhausted after that throw. He had a feeling that the ash was interfering with some of his electronics. Ash and machines did not mix well.

_Weakening already? _King Ghidorah asked, chuckling as he rose himself out of the rubble. The great golden dragon turned around, grinning sinisterly as he faced Kiryuu once more. Kiryuu's eyes widened when he saw that none of those attacks even phased Ghidorah. He let loose a powerful bellow and charged for King Ghidorah, pulling his fist back. His syntech blades sprouted out from between his plates as he thrusted his fist forward. King Ghidorah leapt into the air as the blades swung around—and he came back down on top of Kiryuu, grabbing hold of the green dreadlocks. He knocked Kiryuu flat onto his stomach and pulled the mecha's head back by his locks. Kiryuu let loose a powerful scream of agony.

_Maybe you should have worn your helm! _King Ghidorah chuckled as he pulled Kiryuu's head back.

Those cords of his—they were sensitive, though they had developed some toughness from prolonged exposure, they were still sensitive. King Ghidorah squeezing them in his claws and pulling them taunt was making the pain worse. Stars filled his vision as pain shook his body. Then, Kiryuu blacked out, his body falling limp.

_I'm surprised none of the enemies you had faced ever tried to pull your hair, Kiryuu, _he smirked. _Like I said, I am not like those other creatures you've faced._

King Ghidorah licked his lips as his center head drew closer to Kiryuu.

_Now, let's see what else you can do._

_No! _Biollante called. _You will not have him!_

_Still guarding him? _King Ghidorah asked, entering Kiryuu's mind once more. Kiryuu was lying face down in the middle of the void that was his CPU.

_I will continue to guard him, _Biollante hissed. _He's mine! Do you understand, he's all mine!_

_We'll see about that, dear, _King Ghidorah chuckled as black bars came up around Biollante. He smiled as she gripped her bars with her claws and her tentacles, shaking them. Biollante let loose a roar, barring her many racks of teeth. The enormous plant-gator reared back, spraying her acid at the bars that bound her. Though, it was a fruitless attempt. King Ghidorah had her locked in tight.

_Mark my words, dragon, _Biollante growled. _I will find a way out._

King Ghidorah just chuckled as he glanced down again at the fallen Kiryuu. He picked him up in his claw and rolled him over to where Kiryuu was facing him. He leaned his central head down to him and whispered into the mecha's ear.

Godzilla heard the cry of agony and he stood there stunned when he saw the golden, three-headed dragon standing over his father.

_Father!_ His mind screamed. Godzilla's lips curled back into a horrible snarl as he began to approach King Ghidorah. His back spines lit up bright electric, blue-white and opened his mouth up—revealing a glowing nimbus forming deep inside his throat. Just as King Ghidorah glanced up, he found himself blasted back by a spray of superheated, blue-white gas. The giant space dragon was blasted back, his back making contact with the Henley St. Bridge. His body rolled over, and splashed into the Tennessee River.

_Father! _Godzilla rushed over to him and knelt down at his side. Godzilla called out to Kiryuu, trying desperately to awaken him. Kiryuu seemed lifeless. Godzilla shook his head again.

_Why does this keep happening? _He asked himself. _Every time—it seems he goes down like this._

_Well, well, well,_ began a cold voice deep inside his mind. It sent a shiver up his spine. Godzilla looked up to see King Ghidorah rising out of the Tennessee River. It was like that blast did not even faze him. _The prodigal son is here. I've been waiting._

Godzilla rose up, claws curled into fists. He bellowed out a call of challenge to the dragon, his spines flickering blue. King Ghidorah was going to pay for harming his father. Godzilla gave him a foul look. Then, he ignited his back spines again and prepared for another shot. Rearing his head back, he fired upon the dragon, but something blurry got in the way. The ray impacted on something that flew in front of King Ghidorah. When Godzilla was finished, he saw what moved in front of the dragon. There, with his right arm up and a purple, electrical shield extending out from it was his father. Godzilla was dumbfounded. His father leapt up from the ground and halted the shot he fired from reaching King Ghidorah with his energy shield. Why would he do that? As the metallic arm moved away, Godzilla swallowed. Kiryuu's face had his patented, sinister grin, but the expression just seemed twisted—wrong. Kiryuu's eyes were wide and he had a psychotic look on his face. Then, Godzilla saw the color. They were red—not gold.

_Well, it looks like someone doesn't want you to harm me, _King Ghidorah chuckled. _Kiryuu, do me a favor. Complete what you were programmed to do. Eliminate him._

Kiryuu did not even reply. He just dipped his head in acknowledgement. Then, he fired his forward rocks at Godzilla. Godzilla raised his arms up to protect his face from the shrapnel that exploded out. Kiryuu fired the sidewinders, the heat-seekers arched over and collided with Godzilla's sides. Godzilla found himself in a billow of smoke and pain, letting loose a horrible roar. What was his father doing? He was locked in blinding smoke, coughing slightly as the debris tickled his throat. He glanced around for a moment, letting another bellow escape his throat. Then, he felt something explode over his head and he fell back. Godzilla shook his head slightly, feeling a mixture of metal and fire pelt his hide. He let loose another growl and glanced up, getting up off the ground.

_Get him…_

Godzilla's lit up when he felt a punch to his lower jaw, sending him flying back towards I-40. The monster's size took out an overpass leading off towards Western Avenue. Godzilla's head swam for a moment and stars filled his eyes as he tried to get up. As his vision cleared he found his father standing there with that wild look in his eyes. Part of his arm was exposed and two enormous syntech blades jut out from the back of his hand. Godzilla let loose a painful growl, begging his father to stop hurting him. Kiryuu jerked his shoulder and several syntech blades exploded out from the ground, thrusting up through Godzilla's stomach. Kiryuu reared back, pulling his exposed arm back, ready to slice his son with his blades. Godzilla's eyes widened and his mind screamed out. He had to get his father away from him. He had to wake his father up somehow. Godzilla ignited his back and grimaced, opening his jaws. He did not want to do this, he did not want to fire upon his own flesh and blood. Kiryuu's eyes blinked for a moment, a sign that there was some life still inside of him, trying to fight King Ghidorah. He had to jolt the rest of him out as well. Godzilla turned his head up and fired upon his father. Kiryuu's blades withdrew and like a blur, the bio-mecha dodged the attack. Godzilla cursed himself inside as he rose up from the ground, painfully holding his stomach. He glanced around for a moment, breathing heavily as blood splattered out of his wound.

_Where is he? _He thought. He had to stay alert, knowing that his father was lurking somewhere. After all this time, he knew his father would never do anything like this anymore. His father would never try to truly kill his own son. His father remembered who he was, despite the fact that he was now partially a machine. Godzilla had his father back, no matter how far apart they were. He knew this. His father loved him. His father would never want to kill him—not after that night in Tokyo. It only happened once, but it would never happen again. Godzilla let loose a sickly roar, calling his father out. Perhaps knowing that Kiryuu was causing his son pain would snap his father out of King Ghidorah's control. He knew it had to be King Ghidorah who was making his father do this. Godzilla turned and faced the golden dragon, noticing that King Ghidorah once more rested on his belly. Apparently, pitting father against son was a bit of an entertainment for him. King Ghidorah grinned, becoming amused when he saw Godzilla once more make an attempt to attack him again. Then, Godzilla heard something leap out at him and he felt a flat kick to his head. Once more the dinosaur was sent flying backwards, only to be bounced up into the air again by a knee. Kiryuu's movements were so fast he could barely even see him as he attacked. Godzilla blinked again as Kiryuu made a full inverted roundhouse, the back of his heal colliding with the back of his son's neck.

_This fight is so one-sided, _King Ghidorah snorted in boredom. _Kiryuu! Finish the job. I grow tired of this dance. Do what you were supposed to do that night in Tokyo. Decapitate him!_

Kiryuu once more did not reply. He merely dipped his head to his master and glanced back just as Godzilla rose up from the rubble of buildings, dust, and volcanic ash.

_Kiryuu! _Biollante cried. _Don't! You need him! Stop this!_

_Come on, father, _Godzilla thought as he rose shakingly back onto his feet. _I'm your only son. You have to snap out of this!_

Kiryuu ripped more of the metal and rubber from his right forearm, exposing more of the syntech underneath. The silver and blue metallic muscle looked dull in the muted, gray light. Godzilla bellowed again, trying to shake his father back to reality. Kiryuu's blood-red eyes narrowed and a fiendish, wild grin appeared on his face. His son charged his back up again, building the blue energy into his throat for another blast. Kiryuu growled, setting his jaw. It was just like Tokyo, just like that night. Godzilla was setting a trap for his father. He knew that if his father shoved the blades down his throat in attempt to kill him, he might wake up. Godzilla spread his legs wide, gripping the ground with his feet. He reared back, ready to fire upon his father. Then, he felt something sharp thrust its way down his throat. Godzilla glanced down and found his father's syntech trunk sticking out of his jaws. The glow disappeared and the spines relaxed. Godzilla growled and bit hard down upon the syntech, hoping to cause pain to Kiryuu and awaken him that way. Saliva dripped out of his mouth as the blades slid down his esophagus. He felt one blade poke at a sensitive spot at the back of his throat, preparing to piece its way through his tender, pink, tissue.

_What are you waiting for? _King Ghidorah growled. _Do it! Make his head roll!_

_Father…_Godzilla thought.

_Kiryuu! _Biollante cried, shaking her bars. She bit into one of them trying to twist it loose with her sharp teeth. _Kiryuu! Stop! Please! We can't let him win. You and I, we're supposed to beat him so we can be together. You can't him make you kill your own son! Fight his control, Kiryuu!_

She saw the mental image of King Ghidorah in Kiryuu's virtual world, standing over the fallen body of Kiryuu. He held in his claws Kiryuu's head. The way he was standing over the body almost seemed perverted—especially with that satisfied look on his faces. Biollante let loose a roar and finally pulled the bars loose. King Ghidorah glanced up as the enormous plant-gator leapt out of her cage, talking him under her great bulk.

Outside, Kiryuu's eyes blinked and he just froze. His eyes appeared to clear for a moment, turning a slight orange color. He glanced around. His body could not move. He had his arm extended out, his blades forced down Godzilla's throat. Godzilla also froze, not wanting to move to try and yank the horrible, sharp mess from his throat just yet. The last thing he wanted to do was tear up his insides with his father's blades. And so, he just stood there. Then, he felt the syntech twitch and one of the blades sliced something internally. Godzilla let loose a painful gargle, and tensed his body up. Kiryuu's head jerked back and he bellowed out a roar. Godzilla heard the roar and muffled slightly. The bellow was not a cry of triumph, or a cry to make a finishing blow to his opponent, it was a cry of agony. Godzilla could sense that there was something going on inside of Kiryuu. His brown eyes turned slightly over to King Ghidorah and noticed the space dragon flinched for a moment. Though he could not see what it was, he had a feeling someone was fighting—someone was helping to bring his father out of his trance.

King Ghidorah growled, glaring heatedly at Biollante.

_You will pay for that, witch! _He bellowed at her. _How dare you break away some of my hold on him._

_I told you, you oversized, bat-winged, three-headed pansy, _Biollante snarled back at him. _Kiryuu is my toy! Only I can have him. And I will fight anyone who dares to take him away from me._

King Ghidorah's two outer heads came up around Biollante's neck and bit directly into her. He let loose his breath weapon while the two heads were clamped down and sent an electrical bite through her body. Ericka let loose a wail of agony. Her own syntech sprouted out of her body, forming into blades similar to Kiryuu's, only green in color, thrusting deep into the dragon's sides. She reared back again and sprayed her acid upon the center head of King Ghidorah. The other two heads released their grips and all three heads bellowed out in anguish. Biollante felt her chance and her green lips pulled back across her many racks of jagged, dagger teeth. She leaned down and took King Ghidorah's necks into her jaws. She pulled away and began to drag him across the floor. King Ghidorah glanced up and painfully wiggled his body upright as Biollante dragged him. His red eyes narrowed and Biollante let go of him, screaming. She glanced back at him, controlling herself, feeling wave after wave of his own power press up against her. She turned around and grimaced at him, trying desperately to fight him with her own mind.

_You want to play mental games, dragon? _Biollante asked.

_You are not even worth my time, little brat, _King Ghidorah growled.

_I'll show you! _She called, spraying again her acid at him. The dragon dodged her attack and swooped in, swinging both of his tails around, knocking her to the ground.

_My dear little Ericka Munson,_ King Ghidorah chuckled. _While your powers are indeed impressive, they pale in comparison to mine. Your sweet little fetish and desires to Kiryuu will not save your or him from obliteration._

_We'll see about that, _Ericka sneered at the dragon.

King Ghidorah let loose a bellow and fired upon her, sending wave after wave of his electrical breath upon her. Biollante growled as she tried to dodge each attack. She glanced back again, seeing the still form of Kiryuu. He started to twitch for a moment, his fingers wiggling with life. Biollante smiled, and looked at King Ghidorah. She had to continue to fight. The more she fought with King Ghidorah's mind, the weaker the hold he had on Kiryuu. She swung her tendrils around and reared back, her lower half forming into two stout legs.

_Yes, my dear, have at me, _King Ghidorah growled as he reared back onto his hind legs as well. The two bodies collided with each other, claws scraping, jaws crushing. Acid and lighting sprayed everywhere. And as they were fighting, Kiryuu lifted his head up. He glanced back and saw Biollante underneath King Ghidorah. She looked fatigued, rich ichor poured from her open wounds. He rose up wearily and opened his chest. She had King Ghidorah distracted and Kiryuu saw his opportunity. A blue beam irrupted from his chest and clashed into King Ghidorah. The golden dragon felt his mind being ripped from Kiryuu's and he let out a bellow, falling down onto the rubble of what was left of the University of Tennessee. Inside Kiryuu's virtual world, Kiryuu smirked with satisfaction.

"Thank you, Ericka," he said to her. Kiryuu paused for a moment and found Biollante laying there on the ground, still like a stone. He approached her and knelt down. He heard her breathe. She was in pain. "Ericka?"

_Kiryuu,_ Biollante breathed. _N—nice shot._

"Thanks to you," Kiryuu smiled. "Are you alright?"

_What does it look like?_ She asked, her form shrinking down to her human form. "Kiryuu, I'm—I'm sorry. I'm sorry that—that I—did horrible things to you. I—I just wanted you to—to love me too like you loved Maria and Katsura. I—want to be—apart of your family."

"Ericka…" Kiryuu rumbled.

"I know," she said. "I can't. I—used you. It's funny, only—at the brink of death do I see my errors. Look, I—I don't belong here anymore. You killed me—you set me free from what I was—but I wanted to stay. I forced myself to stay. Before I go—I want you to know that I love you too—I just had a hard time showing it correctly. So—I want to give you a gift that will help you defeat King Ghidorah for good. Take me in your arms."

Kiryuu took her into his arms and held her close. Ericka raised a hand up to his face and leaned in, kissing him on the lips. Kiryuu closed his eyes as she kissed him. He felt an energy being passed from her to him with that kiss and he opened them to see her body begin to fade away. He felt her power pass on to him and his mind was suddenly opened up new sensations that he had never felt before. Kiryuu dropped to the ground and gasped. And then, he awoke from his dream. Kiryuu's eyes blinked and he stared in horror when he found his right arm's syntech shoved down into his son's throat. And Godzilla looked up at him, his eyes welling up with tears of pain. Kiryuu slowly retracted them from his son, trying hard not to cut him. As the blades left Godzilla, the great mutant fell to his knees, coughing up blood and bile from his stomach.

"_Son!" _Kiryuu cried as he rushed over to him. He held his son in his arms, holding Godzilla's head to his chest. Godzilla's eyes drooped low, his strength began to fail him.

"_I—I didn't mean it," _Kiryuu gasped, feeling a sob come on. _"I—I didn't mean to hurt you…"_

"_I know…father," _Godzilla glanced up at him. _"But—I hoped that you would so that you could—awaken from your nightmare. King Ghidorah was controlling you like—Biollante controlled me. Please, don't be mad at me."_

"_For what?" _Kiryuu asked.

"_I stole energy from—one of those buildings," _Godzilla replied. _"I had to—so I could be strong to face King Ghidorah and help you."_

"_Look around, son," _Kiryuu began, swallowing another sob. _"This whole place is dead. I—I don't think anyone will be living here for a long while. So—I don't think they would care. I know I don't. Besides—they've got other ways of getting power. What's one reactor? Son, rest for a moment. The dragon is not dead yet."_


	11. Heavy Metal: Tennessee Style

**Heavy Metal: Tennessee Style**

Malcho and Manda slithered through the mounds of debris, trying to get a good view of the fight. There, they saw Kiryuu holding his son in his arms. Manda's eyes began to tear when he saw the two having their moment. At that time, he honestly believed that they were truly father and son. In the other mound of debris was King Ghidorah. Malcho was eyeing the still form intently. He saw the center head rise up, the two red eyes blinking.

"_Uh-oh," _he breathed.

_If it isn't the feather duster that caused the Ten Plagues and the Atlantean Gecko, _began a deep voice that chuckled darkly into their heads.

"Uh-oh," Manda breathed as he looked back. "Malcho."

"_If you have a plan, amigo," _Malcho began. _"I suggest you use it."_

"I thought you had the plan," Manda cried.

"_Caramba, never trust a sea snake," _growled the Great Feathered Serpent. He spread his wings and lifted off, flying towards Kiryuu and Godzilla. Malcho slipped by the undetected and landed in a dead forest near where they were, hiding under the trees. He concentrated, gathering what spells he had left, preparing to defend himself and the others if he could. Manda followed him, landing in front of the two.

"Marx?" Kiryuu asked.

"Family moment over!" Manda cried, pulling out his gun. "Look, Kiryuu, I said I'd help you and I mean it."

"Godzilla is wounded," Kiryuu began, looking back as King Ghidorah began to rise.

_How interesting, the gecko wishes to help save his friends, _King Ghidorah chuckled.

"I hate being called a gecko," Manda growled, pointing his gun at the golden dragon. He fired the bullet and an explosion impacted King Ghidorah, incasing him in a sphere of electricity. The space dragon lifted his head in agony and bellowed out. He was frozen for a moment, the sphere stunning his body as still as a statue.

"Uh…" Kiryuu began. "That's not a law enforcer's regulation pistol."

"No," Manda replied. "It's my special altered caster magnum. Atlantean technology—also known as Technomancy. One of the last weapons we managed to effectively use on King Ghidorah. My powers are of no use against him, but this can slow him down. I'll defend Godzilla."

"I was hoping that you would," Kiryuu smiled slightly. _"Son, you remember Manda. He's here to help. He will protect you."_

Godzilla nodded and closed his eyes, falling limp. Kiryuu's golden eyes opened wide when he saw his son drop unconscious.

"Don't worry,' said Manda. "He'll be fine. I got him." He glanced back at King Ghidorah, noticing that the spell his bullet had cast upon the dragon was slowly wearing off. "Go kick his ass and kick it hard. For everyone."

Kiryuu rose up and shook his spines. King Ghidorah broke free of his bonds and shook all three of his heads. Though before he could lunge for his opponent, Kiryuu had gone from being on the ground to being on his back.

_What?! _King Ghidorah asked just as a syntech blade came down and sliced off the center head.

"Kiryuu!" cried Manda. "No! He's a hydra!"

"What?" Kiryuu asked just as he dodged the other two heads' attack. Lightning sprayed everywhere as he leapt from the dragon's back to the ground.

"A hydra!" Manda cried. "Cut one of his heads off, two more grow in its place."

_Words to live by, _King Ghidorah chuckled as he turned around. Kiryuu's eyes widened as he saw the stump that was the center head began to wiggle. It split in two and two necks grew out from the center stump, forming into two more heads. Now, King Ghidorah was a four-headed dragon.

"You can't decapitate him, that won't work!" Manda cried. "Don't you know mythology?"

The two new heads reared back and sprayed their lightning at the mecha as he leapt from his spot.

"I thought the Hydra was something Hercules fought," Kiryuu cried. "I didn't expect…"

"Where do you think the myth came from?" Manda cried. "It was King Ghidorah!"

King Ghidorah reared back again and all four heads made another lunge, snapping at Kiryuu. He dodged each attack, except one. One of the heads managed to get a hold of the mecha by the arm—his mechanical one—and bit hard down upon it. Kiryuu reared his head back and bellowed out in agony from the fangs biting into his syntech, crushing what was left of the plates on his arms. Kiryuu tore away from King Ghidorah. He glanced down and noticed how his hand twitched violently. The syntech will heal, but his robotic arm was damaged. He had to get a new one. He held onto it and gasped virtually, though his body was making the gesture he was out of breath. And a four-headed Ghidorah continued to mock him with his laughter.

_My dear Kiryuu Knight, _he began. _I will shatter your sun. Right now—he who you owe your renewed existence is fading away. Perhaps I should ease his passing._

"Gordon?" Kiryuu asked, feeling a tear flow down his cheek. "No—don't you touch him! Don't you lay your clammy claws on him. Leave him alone!"

_Oh, your temper is rather hot for this human, _King Ghidorah smiled again. _Oh, yes. They are. I thought you would want him dead. He's always wanted you dead. He question your very existence over and over again. He deeply hated you—ever since you were activated._

"In the beginning he did," Kiryuu agreed. "But over the years he learned to respect me, trust me."

_And you betrayed him every turn! _He called. _Oh what a tangle web we weave. You have broken his heart. And you saw how he lies there—barely even alive. And it's all because of you—you evil, little bastard you. But he'll die—and once he's dead—Gordon Knight will not longer hinder you. You will be free from your chains…_

Gordon Knight coughed, covering his mouth with his hand. He growled to himself, feeling that he was growing weaker and weaker. He felt his heart began to pain him and he gripped his chest. He glanced around as he tried to call for help, but there was no one in the room. He tried to reach for the button to call the nurse, but for some strange reason, the button was out of his reach. He felt the pain shoot down his left arm and the air passages of his throat begin to close up. He tried to breath, but he could not. Stars appeared before his eyes as his skin slowly faded to a bluish color. He gripped the covers tightly, his eyes opening wide.

"Gordon!" cried a familiar voice. It sounded like his voice—but louder, stronger. It was his voice, but it did not come from him. It was the voice he gave Kiryuu—it was his voice coming from Kiryuu as it always has been. And there the mecha was standing in the room, his sparkling golden eyes lit up with worry. But another presence was with him. Something cold, something sinister—even more sinister than Kiryuu was. This presence made Kiryuu seem like a saint from Heaven. Gordon could not even call out to his mecha, he had no voice to speak with. But why was Kiryuu here? He was sent after that monster King Ghidorah. But here he was—standing in the room.

"Gordon!" Kiryuu cried.

_Why are you so worried? _Asked a deep and cold voice into Kiryuu and Gordon's mind. _Soon, he'll be gone and you will own everything he had. You will be free from the chains that he has around you—free to do what ever you want. Why do you care for him so much? He's your taskmaster. You always called him that._

"I haven't used that word since I was in Japan," Kiryuu growled.

"Kiryuu…" Gordon hissed at him, gripping his throat and his chest. He opened his mouth wide like a fish out of water, gasping for oxygen. His chest pained him, his heart beated swiftly. Kiryuu glanced up at the machines, noticing that Gordon's heart was going into an arrest. He lunged for the button to call the nurse and the doctor, noticing that the machines were not notifying them of the situation. He stamped it with his claw several times, but they never came.

"Gordon," Kiryuu gasped, tossing the button away and gathering the human into his arms. He could not perform CPR, even if he knew the moves to do it. He could try to restart Gordon's heart, but he could not administer oxygen. He had no lungs to give the breath of life to his creator. Then, he shook his head and grabbed the collar of Gordon's robe and tore it open. His metallic claw traced the aging man's abdomen, finding the spot that he needed to be to apply the palms of his hands to. And then, he began to resuscitate the heart. He could not perform it well with his damaged arm, but he tried.

_That's not going to work, Kiryuu…_King Ghidorah hissed as he walked into the room. Gordon's eyes widened even more as he saw the golden dragon step into the room.

"It will work," Kiryuu growled. "I am programmed with the knowledge of the most up-to-date methods of CPR and First Aid. Gordon, I've never quit on you, don't you quit on me!"

_Let that aging man go, _the dragon licked his lips. _He will not trouble you any further when he's dead._

"Stop saying that!" Mechagodzilla bellowed. "I won't hear it! Gordon, please. King Ghidorah, top hurting him!"

"Kiryuu…" Gordon shook his head, coughing. The pain had subsided for a moment. Kiryuu glanced up to see that his heart was returning back to normal. "Stop."

Kiryuu breathed and fell across Gordon's chest, sobbing. Gordon placed his arms around him. Kiryuu was really in the room with him. This was no hologram.

"You…really think…I'm a taskmaster?" he asked. Kiryuu lifted up and pulled his green locks away from his face.

"Not now," he replied, wiping his eyes. "Gordon—what I thought then, I don't think that now."

"Oh, Kiryuu," Gordon began. "We've—had such bitterness between each other—for so long."

"Gordon," Kiryuu shook his head, tears streaming down his eyes. "I don't want to be bitter towards you anymore."

King Ghidorah clinched his claw and Gordon flailed out in agony again.

"Stop hurting him!" Kiryuu bellowed. "I don't want him dead!"

"It—doesn't matter, Mechagodzilla…" Gordon breathed, gasping for air as he spoke. "I'm going to die. I'm going to die, so let me go, Kiryuu."

"Kiryuu…" began Gordon, pulling him down to whisper into his metallic, pointy ear. "This—might help you. Fire—the AZC—then—stick the OD inside—of him."

"Gordon, that's brilliant," Kiryuu said. There was no sarcasm in his voice this time, no bitterness; he truly meant what he said.

"I've—been setting the office up for you—to live in," Gordon began. "So you can be at the Salt Lake City office without using—a hologram. It's the secret construction I've been doing. It—was supposed to be a surprise. But—you know me. I hate surprises, even when I give them. Take care of the—company for me."

"Gordon, you'll be here when I get back…" Kiryuu began, shaking his head. "Please—be here when I get back."

"You know—I can't promise that," Gordon coughed. "Go—kick that dragon's ass…that's an order, you pathetic, piece of—used Chrysler parts."

Just one last time to insult Kiryuu—and that was all Gordon wanted to say. That was all he said before his eyes became sightless.

"Gordon Knight was like a father to me," Kiryuu rumbled somberly. "He acted very much like my real father. Everything I did I tried to please him, but that was never enough. In many ways I hated my own father because I could never please him. But Gordon Knight—it almost seemed like he was my father reincarnated. Like Maria seemed like my mate reincarnated. My father died in my arms."

_And now, so did Gordon Knight, _King Ghidorah began. Kiryuu blinked for a moment and glanced down to see that Gordon was in his arms. He was standing over the ruined city of Knoxville, Tennessee once more with Gordon Knight in his arms.

"He was born in Knoxville, Tennessee," he said. "While his parents were traveling from Maryland to South Carolina. After he was born, he never saw the city after that. How interesting that you are here and I am fighting you."

He slowly settled Gordon Knight's body down onto the ground and watched it fade away, returning back to where it came from. He glanced up at King Ghidorah, seeing the dragon chuckle at him again.

"You find this funny, dragon?" he growled at King Ghidorah.

_Just watching another one of your family members fade away delights me, _Ghidorah said.

"You killed him," Kiryuu growled. "You killed my mate, you killed my children, and you killed Gordon. You nearly had me kill my own son. Ericka died saving me from you. And the only one that's standing in your way from killing the rest of this world is me."

And with that, his left arm plates exploded off, revealing his syntech underneath, forming into many sharp, tall spines. Blades jutted out from his knuckles.

_And I suppose you think you'll succeed, _King Ghidorah mocked with a huff.

"I'm Kiryuu Knight," growled Kiryuu. "It's what I do. It's a part of my job."

King Ghidorah bellowed and shot his lightning at the mecha. Kiryuu's eyes flashed and his shields activated, allowing the lightning to impact on them. Dust rose around him and he dashed off, his motions once more becoming nothing more than a blur. With the dust in the way, even King Ghidorah was having a hard time trying to follow his movements. The dragon bellowed and tried to lunge at what he thought was a shadow. As he snapped at the shadow, all four of his heads were kicked twice. Kiryuu had performed an aerial butterfly kick on the dragon. The syntech blades on Kiryuu's left arm sliced through King Ghidorah's wing, clipping it right off. The dragon bellowed in rage, more than agony and waited for another strike. And he charged for the mecha. Kiryuu back flipped and slid on the ground, watching the charging dragon come for him. And then his back spines lit up.

Malcho's head roes from the trees when he saw the glowing spines light up with violet-white light. Manda's jaws just dropped. Godzilla barked for a moment as he rose painfully up to see his father's spines ignite. The air itself seemed to have been sucked out as Kiryuu drew his breath. King Ghidorah stopped his charge, his eyes wide. He turned around and tried to run. Kiryuu drew the air into his jaws, rearing his head back. And then he anchored his foot down and blasted his plasma breath forth. The blast from the fire itself was enough to even knock Manda off his feet. Kiryuu blasted the breath out like a purple fire ball, closing his mouth as the spray impacted upon King Ghidorah. King Ghidorah anchored his on feet down and braced himself against the blast. And as soon as the light and heat was gone, he felt an uppercut of a fist impact his center-most, lower jaw. The other three heads fired their beams at Kiryuu and sent him flying into Broadway and the Fifth Avenue Hotel, as well as parts of TVA, the Bellsouth Knoxville Branch Building and Downtown. Henley and Cumberland areas were now rubble. And King Ghidorah rose again, noticing that Kiryuu was down for the count. He chuckled as he walked over towards the fallen mecha. Kiryuu laid down on his back, his mouth was open. He looked almost dead.

_Now, to finish what I started…_he began.

Kiryuu's eyes flared open and his chest opened up. King Ghidorah glanced down as he saw the blue glow of the Absolute Zero Cannon swirl around inside Kiryuu's chest. And the cannon fired, encasing half of the dragon's body in ice. He did not have long before King Ghidorah would overcome the ice and he slid himself farther down towards the dragon's stomach.

_You know I'm making this easy for you! _King Ghidorah called. _I knew your plan._

Kiryuu growled as his syntech thrusted into the belly of the dragon. He activated the Oxygen Destroyer once he got it inside and sliced his syntech off that held it inside the dragon's stomach.

"Why?" Kiryuu asked. "Why let me kill you?"

_You'll soon find out, this world my death will create, will destroy what you have left of your pathetic civilization, _the dragon replied. _I have won, no matter what happens to my body._

Kiryuu scrambled out from under the dragon's body and ran for Manda and Godzilla. The ice broke and King Ghidorah let loose a bellow of agony as his flesh began to eat away. Godzilla's eyes widened as he saw the spectacle of the dragon's flesh dissolving away piece by piece until nothing more than a skeleton was left. The skeleton fell to the ground, landing on a mound of ice underneath it.

"_Is that how you died, Father?" _he asked.

Kiryuu glanced back wearily to his son and gathered him up into his arms again: _"Yes, that's how I died." _He looked up at Manda. "What the hell did King Ghidorah mean what he said about the world he created?"

"I don't know—wait…" Manda stood up and closed his eyes. He sensed something begin to rise around him. "Oh-no. Malcho!"

"_Qué?" _called the Great Feathered Serpent. He flew down towards Kiryuu, who just stared at him with wide eyes.

"Malcho?" Kiryuu asked. "Soñador Malcho?"

"_Hola, Kiryuu Knight," _Malcho smiled. _"Surprised?"_

"Not really," Kiryuu shook his head. "I had a feeling."

"Do you feel that?" Manda asked.

Malcho glanced around and began to sense the energy that was slowly rising: _"It's Mana. Mana is rising in this area. I sense it is coming from the bones of King Ghidorah. Oh boy. Mana rising means that the world will change."_

"The world will change?" Kiryuu asked. "What did King Ghidorah do?"

"The world will change," said Manda. "It's going to get a little weirder after this."

"A volcano just irrupted where none have in nearly 200 million years," Kiryuu pointed at the glow coming from the Smoky Mountains. "How weird is it going to be?"

"King Ghidorah, by dying, has now upset the energies of this planet," said Manda. "It'll be isolated occurrences. People mutating into—other things—other creatures. Animals mutating into other types of creatures like—griffins, gorgons…mythological creatures."

"_Our kind starts awakening," _Malcho began. _"And all these changes will cause mayhem everywhere. The land itself will start to change. Like the Smokies changed, so will other mountains as well. Mountains that are, will cease to exist, where there is low grasslands, forests will rise. Islands will sink and rise. King Ghidorah has started a chain reaction that will forever change this world and its inhabitants. Wars will be started because of the changes."_

"So—he wanted me to kill him?" Kiryuu asked.

"So you would be the one responsible for the—mutation this world will go through," Manda said.

"That bastard," Kiryuu growled. "Responsible? I'm trying to save this world from being dragon chow—and now I just destroyed it?"

"Not destroyed it, changed it," said Manda. "You've changed it."

"What am I supposed to do?" he asked.

"_Change with it," _Malcho replied. _"And I can help you."_

Manda glanced from Malcho to Kiryuu and then shook his head: "Oh no, no. No! You will not teach him Technomancy."

"_I don't think we have much of a choice," _Malcho said. _"This will help him. This will help everyone. He can learn it, he has crystal fragments already in him."_

"Hold it!" Kiryuu bellowed. "I just saw my creator die in my arms, and I just killed a space dragon, who has now—with his own death—brought about some cataclysm—that thanks to me killing him, will happen…and what is Technomancy?"

"To put it simply," began Manda, who interjected before Malcho could say anything. "It's Atlantean technology. Malcho used Atlantean technology inside of you—namely your shields. We found that there was this energy that could be captured and stored into crystalline form and used in technology and another form of magic, even psionics. It was our secret of being so advanced. I mean we had gravity generators before Chrysler came out with it for your feet—which by the way—is also Atlantean technology. Malcho's been selling it."

"_It helps me make a profit," _the Feathered Serpent shrugged. _"And how did you know."_

Manda sighed and lifted up one of Kiryuu's feet, pointing to the sole. Underneath was an intricate design of glowing blue, crystalline cells.

"I'm not that gullible, peacock," he growled at Malcho. "I know Atlantean technology when I see it. How many crystals did you use?"

"_The nanite power cells inside Kiryuu's fluid system…" _Malcho began. _"Technomantic crystals too. From the Tower of Babel."_

"Malcho, I'm gonna kill you!" Manda cried. "That means he's a portable Technomantic Tower!"

"_It explains how he can transfer meat and proteins into plasma," _Malcho smiled.

"Just how much influence did Omak-Argon have in my construction, Malcho?" Kiryuu asked.

"_The Utah Foundation and Omak-Argon have been working together since your designs were put out on the floor," _Malcho began. _"They found out that they could not fully create a muscle system and have it live over a dead skeleton. Syntech can run perfectly when combined with living tissue—but dead tissue—so I used the energy from the crystals to help in creating your syntech. The crystals contain life-force energies from the planet, the stars, everything. And that's the secret. But because of that, you can use Technomancy. And I can teach you."_

"No thank you," Kiryuu growled as he helped his son off of the ground. "My own powers are enough."

"_Sooner or later, you will not think that is so," _said Malcho. _"I sense something growing inside of you and you will not be able to control it. I can help you do that."_

"As can I," said Manda. "Biollante left something in you. And it will change you."

"_Sí," _Malcho said. _"You must learn to control the power she has given you or it will drive you mad. Besides, there is a spell that you should learn, it will help you in the long run."_

"And what spell is that?" Kiryuu asked.

"Not the _Mass Displacement _spell," Manda began. "You want to teach him that."

"_Teaching him that will make his job as CEO better," _said Malcho.

"Mass displacement?" Kiryuu asked. "You mean—shrink?"

"_You see?" _Malcho asked. _"He already gets it. He would make and excellent Technomancer."_

"A shrinking spell would help some," Kiryuu said.

"_In order for you to learn _Mass Displacement,_" _began Malcho. _"You will have to learn about Technomancy. You must learn to crawl before you learn to walk."_

"A cyborg learning Technomancy," began Manda. "This ought to be interesting."

Manda sighed as he landed in the middle of the middle of the parking lot. Jo had waited for him a long time to return and come pick her up. Malcho and he were off, sending Godzilla and Kiryuu back to their respected homes. Godzilla needed rest and he passed out just before Malcho had teleported him back to Ogasawara Island. Kiryuu was returned by Manda, who told him that he will be in contact with him. And then, Malcho and Manda had returned to Oak Ridge where Jo was waiting for her partner.

"So, how did it go?" she asked him. "Is he dead?"

"Well, we're not dead," said Manda. "And Kiryuu destroyed him."

"_Sí," _Malcho nodded. _"He did."_

"Why is everyone so sad?" Jo asked.

"It doesn't matter," Manda sighed. "It doesn't matter at all."

"_You two better return home," _said Malcho. _"I'll clean up here."_

"What do you intend to do with that tower?" Manda asked him.

"_Continue on, amigo," _Malcho chuckled as he glanced back at the glowing blue Tower of Babel.

"I guess that means you win," Manda sighed. "You get the Tower of Atlantis."

Manda raised his claws up, about ready to make the great Tower of Atlantis materialize before him when Malcho help up a wing.

"_Not yet," _he began. _"Don't summon it yet. When the time comes, I will call upon it. I have two towers right now. I'll need to find a place for the third. Perhaps Kiryuu can help with that one day. I know, it will be his first Raising. He can summon and rise the Tower of Atlantis when he's powerful enough to do so."_

"Okay," Manda nodded. He lowered his head to Jo and she hopped on. "Well, I suppose this is good bye for now."

"_Hasta luego, mi amigo," _Malcho nodded. _"Until the next time we meet."_

Manda looked out over the warm sea, glad that he was now out of that chilly, deathly place. He sat, coiled up on the roof top of his trailer. Jo was inside, cooking. The sun was slowly setting behind him, over the soft waves of the Gulf of Mexico. He shook his head sadly as he looked out amongst the waves. Before, they were turbulent, signaling that the world was about to die because of King Ghidorah, now they held a cold stillness that disturbed him. The world was not changing—changing because of King Ghidorah. He actually shivered a bit in the warm air, his rainbow fins flattening out. He growled a bit as he shifted again on the roof. He was growing anxious and tired from what had happened. The last thing that King Ghidorah had said was: "My death will bring about the end of your pathetic civilization." And that statement disturbed him. He knew what that meant and he was not happy to hear that it would come so soon. Manda hoped that Earth would have a few more centuries before _they _would come.

He turned over and shuffled himself off of the roof, his lengthy, sinuous body flopping off and hitting the sand. Jo heard the noise and rushed out, glancing around. She found her partner coiled up on the sand now, his tail just tapping the beach lightly. She sighed and shook her head, walking outside with a look of pity for him. She was more than happy to be back home where it was warm and not freeze to death in a cold, ash-covered land filled with ruins. Why couldn't he be?

"Tim," she began. "What's the matter now?"

"I think my life sucks right now," the Dragon replied.

"Why?" Jo asked. "We're home. It's warm. I'm not freezing my ass off anymore and I finally got the smell of brimstone out of my clothes."

"Can't my life just suck without reason?" Manda grunted as he rolled over onto his back. "Does it really matter?"

"I care a lot about you, Timothy Marx," she said, sitting down into his coils. She grabbed his whisker and drew his head close to her. "A lot about you."

"Jo?" Manda began, blinking from behind his sunglasses.

"Shut up," Jo smirked as she brought the Dragon's lips close to hers. With that, she pressed her lips against his and leaned him back for a passionate kiss. Jo reached up and took Manda's glasses off, tossing them down onto the sand. She leaned slightly away from him, but her lips were still very close. "Just forget about it for one night, Tim. Just let me help you forget."

"Jo…" Manda breathed as he felt her hands feel up and down his flank. "I—didn't know you felt this way about me."

"And you wonder why I wanted to stay with you for so long," Jo giggled, laying her head against his neck. "I know—it's odd. I'm in love with a Dragon. But the question is—do you feel the same way?"

She put him on the spot after that. Manda could not find the right words to say. Did he feel the same way about her? He blinked for a moment and glanced around. Somewhere, he did feel the same way, but he was scared to admit it. This was his partner, his comrade. He worked with her on cases. Manda let loose a yelp when he felt her tickle around his belly. Her fingers were playing around, making his muscles go into spasms. He concentrated on her touch. She had soft hands, for someone in her line of work. Usually handling a gun would roughen up one's hands. But she always kept hers soft with lotion. Manda began to give into his senses and his noise felt a tingle. He could smell the lotion on her hands as she rubbed around his chest and abdomen. They smelled like strawberries. He loved strawberries. Manda placed his claw on her hand and his eyes opened. She glanced up at him with that smile that he always liked, her long, silky black hair blowing in the wind. The Dragon leaned down and kissed her lips. He did feel that way about her.

"I do," he breathed. "It's just that—what would others think? I'm not human."

"I don't care," smiled Jo. "I've had human men before. They're not all that great. You're the only decent man I have ever met."

Manda laid back again as Jo came up over him, straddling his chest. She slowly unbutton the top of her shirt, slipping it off. She had her sports bra on underneath. She leaned down again to kiss her partner once more, enjoying the feeling of his soft, scaly lips against hers. She could actually smell what he smelled like when she was so very close to him. He smelled like oranges. She loved oranges. Manda pulled her away for a moment, remembering that she was cooking something.

"Uh, maybe you should check on the food," he said.

"Don't worry," she purred at him. "I set the pot off the eye before I came out. I guess it'll be cold when we get back inside."

"Well, we can always heat it back up," Manda chuckled again, flipping Jo over to kiss her. He leaned away to rub his cheek against hers, enjoying the mixture of strawberries and oranges. And the two just entangled, enjoying the love that they were finally able to admit to each other.


	12. The New CEO of the Foundation

**Sentient AI and the CEO of the Utah Foundation**

The removal of King Ghidorah's skeleton went quickly. Already, as his first act as corporate head of the Utah Foundation, Kiryuu Knight ordered the Foundation's helicopters on the scene to remove it and send it to the storage facility in Utah, the same storage facility the Foundation used to keep his own bones during his construction. Then, he spoke to Malcho and Manda to find out what all did King Ghidorah leave behind upon his death. They stood before him in front of his cherry wood desk. Kiryuu was there—but not in holographic form. The desk was enormous, so large that his visitors could actually stand on it. Kiryuu planned that he would enter the building and exit it during only the night where no one would see him leave. He could lower himself down into a sublevel below his office and exit there. Today, Will was setting the projector up so that Kiryuu could be at the funeral of Gordon Knight tomorrow. There were flower rings hanging on tripods around Kiryuu's office. The whole place had a somber feel to it. Outside, there were protesters waving signs and picketing Kiryuu's sentience. He could hear them outside, growling and snarling at him. He had commanded that guards should be posted at the front gates, not letting anyone in unless they had some sort of an appointment with one of the employees or had an ID badge. Malcho and Manda were talking to each other, arguing about the Technomancy used in Kiryuu's construction and Kiryuu was leaning over his desk, his head in his hands, silently weeping over the death of Gordon Knight. Katsura and Maria were hanging outside the door, wondering what was going on. Katsura picked up on Kiryuu's distress and wanted so much to hold them in their mental plane-scape right now. Maria wanted to hold him too, but noticed how distressed Kiryuu was when he returned from killing King Ghidorah. The fight was not much and it seemed King Ghidorah wanted this to happen. He had this planned all along.

"I still say you used too much!" Marx cried. The Eastern Dragon was in his human form.

"It doesn't matter now, the damage has been done," Malcho crossed his arms, also in human form. "Now, we really have to worry. King Ghidorah's coming was only a front to the real danger he is sending. With his death comes the Horrors!"

"Man, it was a loose, loose situation," Marx sighed.

"What do you mean by that?" Kiryuu asked, wiping his eyes.

"With King Ghidorah's death, it doesn't matter," Malcho began. "It really doesn't matter. So what, you killed him—he's just gonna come back."

"I've posted guards…" Kiryuu began, remembering where he sent the skeleton.

"He's going to come back in a different form," said Marx. "In the form of these life-force eating spirits called the Scourge, or the Horrors—or whatever you wanna call them. Rising the Mana level calls them—they come—they eat—they form another King Ghidorah."

"Then he creates more of them—and there you go," shrugged Malcho. "It's what happened last time. Five thousand years ago—before I went loco on Egypt, the Horrors came and took all the magic and most of the life force. A few survived, we dragons went into hiding—most of us. I didn't! I stayed out and tried to fight them."

"Do they have his—consciousness?" Kiryuu asked.

"He's their hive mind," said Marx. "He dies, his spirit forms them and they come. Mana has to be at a certain level for them to come though. And they come through the Astral Plane. Basically they are King Ghidorah after he died. But instead of being one spirit, he's many."

"The spirits that he devoured," Malcho sighed. "To be exact."

"You mean to tell me these Horrors are the spirits of the dead he took from this planet?" Kiryuu swallowed, tears streaming down his eyes. "My family? My mate? My children—and other souls out there he's taken are the Horror? And I would have to fight them?"

"He took Gordon Knight's soul too," said Marx. "So, even Gordon will return as a Horror to suck out the life-force of this planet."

"That sick asshole!" Kiryuu cried.

"Your mate—we're not so sure," Marx began. "Maria…could be…"

"Reincarnation of her?" Kiryuu sighed. "I would love to believe that. But I love her, no matter what. I love her."

Kiryuu turned around and looked out the enormous glass window to the City of Salt Lake. He saw news reports all around, wanting to get some sort of statement. There had been rumors on the news that he caused Gordon Knight's death to win control of the company, but the Living Will that Gordon had wrote would put those rumors to rest. Kiryuu was furious to hear that some of those protesters out there cursed his name and blamed him for Gordon's death. One thing the old man would never get to do, see how much turmoil he started by revealing to the world who Mechagodzilla really was. Kiryuu growled again and shook his head, seeing some of the people down there pelt his guards with rotten fruit. He turned around and pressed a button on his desk.

"Dolly," Kiryuu began.

"Yes, Mr. Knight?" she asked.

"Have our guards tell the police to give our unwanted guests a good spray of the fire hoses," Kiryuu began. "And some tear gas as well. We let them continue on like that they might through bottle bombs into our windows."

"Yes, Mr. Knight," Dolly nodded. "But a few of them are calling you out there as well. From what I'm getting from the live news cast."

Kiryuu growled as he turned on a plasma screen hanging on the wall.

"_The crowd is getting worse in their rally," _said a news reporter. _"Some of them are coming in, shouting as they go that they wanted to see the new CEO of the Utah Foundation—who is undoubtedly been revealed to be Kiryuu—the Foundation's Mechagodzilla. There are cries in the streets, asking Mr. Knight to come out here and give a statement."_

Kiryuu's golden eyes narrowed and he allowed his jaw to set.

"Caramba," Malcho sighed. "What are those lunatics thinking? You can't go out there and talk to them."

Kiryuu snorted and rose from his desk. He tapped a button on his desk and his form lowered from the office.

"Kiryuu!" called Marx. "You're honestly not thinking of going out there?"

Katsura and Maria ran into the office and out onto the desk.

"Where's Kiryuu?" Katsura asked.

"He's going outside," said Malcho.

"Ay caramba…" Maria breathed. "Are his wires hooked up right?" She glanced back at Katsura. "You're the one with a beat on his mind. Talk some sense into him!"

_Kiryuu, what are you doing? _Katsura projected.

_I'm getting sick and tired of this, _he growled back. They glanced back as they saw his enormous form through the glass windows of the Utah Foundation building.

"_Kiryuu Knight!" _the reporter called. _"He's outside! He's outside and…Mr. Knight, Mr. Knight!"_

The camera panned up to his face as best as it could. Kiryuu's expression was like ice. His lip twitched slightly. The crowd below actually fell silent when he appeared. They saw his face, something that was rarely seen. They saw those eyes stare at them. His tail thumped lightly on the ground and they could feel the motion of its thumping tremble the ground. His green dreadlocks whipped about across his shoulders and his back. The policemen and guards kept the crowd at bay as Kiryuu looked down on them.

"I hope you all have some purpose for banging and throwing fruit at my doorstep," he growled at the crowd below. They felt his deep voice reverberating through their chests and they stepped back a little further. "If not, I suggest you leave and go about your business. I have work to do and you are taking up my time with this revelry."

"Abomination!" a voice cried from the crowd.

"Excuse me?" Kiryuu began. "What did you just call me? I hope you have meat to back that up. The last thing I am is an abomination. Now, leave these premises."

He backed up and returned to the building, returning to his seat in his office. The crowd outside did quiet down some, but he still heard the sounds of people being pushed back away from the office doors. Kiryuu ran his hand through his mane and sighed again. Will burst through the doors and glanced up.

"I just got a notice from MIT," he began. "They want you to retake the Turing Test."

"What?" Kiryuu asked. "Why?"

"Because," began another voice. It was Bob Yonce, one of Gordon Knight's attorneys. "From what I am getting, Washington wants it. You retake it and pass it, they will recognize you as citizen and you will be able to keep the property bestowed upon you upon Gordon's death."

"So, in order to keep this company," Kiryuu began. "I have to retake the Turing Test." He rose up from his seat and lowered his head. "For Gordon Knight, I will."

"I shall inform them," Yonce nodded and left.

"Kiryuu," began Katsura. "This is going to be hard for all of us."

"It'll be harder for the world," Kiryuu sighed.

"Another thing we need to talk about," began Marx. "Kiryuu it's about your son."

"Sí," Malcho nodded. "This world is about to change drastically. We feel it's best that he is not there to witness it."

"You want me to kill him?" Kiryuu asked. "I won't kill my son."

"No," said Marx. "Just freeze him in suspended animation. I'm sure your AZC cannon has settings on it. Use it to freeze him into suspended animation and ship him to some place cold and monitor him while he's sleeping. The world will change around him and he won't know. Nor will he get in the way."

"Freeze my son," Kiryuu sighed. "Keep him out of the way."

"I agree with them," said Katsura. "If what they are saying is true—the last thing we need is a Godzilla raid on some plant."

"This thing that will happen—even with the Horrors," began Malcho. "Will haven over the course of a couple of centuries. During that time, this planet is going to get very weird. The world won't know—they'll think you have killed him. They'll think that you have finally did what you were supposed to do. You won't tell them that you are sending his frozen body to a secured facility."

Kiryuu sighed for a moment and glanced out the window again. This time he was looking out far into the distance, his eyes squinting from the sun that was setting. It turned the office into a fiery, burnt orange as it set. Kiryuu nodded and patted his desk.

"Kiryuu," said Maria. "It's for the best."

"For the best," Kiryuu nodded. "I will do it. After the funeral."

It was a very dreary day that day of the funeral. For some strange reason, it decided to rain even. Sometimes, Utah does get rain, and this was one of those days. Will kept a tarp over his projector as the holographic image of Kiryuu looked on with solemn eyes the black casket that held the man that brought him back to life. He did not hide his avatar with a human form, he showed his true form through it for all to see. He would have been there physically, though the thought of a 200-foot tall cyborg landing in a graveyard was not a pleasant one. Katsura held flowers in her hands as she wept. Kiryuu could sense her pain, but he did not need the link to feel his own emotions of grief. He glanced around, seeing other representatives of the various companies that helped bring about his new life as a cyborg. There was a representative from Chrysler, Will of course represented Intel, Malcho was there representing his company Omak-Argon, and there was a representative of Lockheed-Martin as well. There were some members of MIT standing around as well. These companies, along with the Utah Foundation all helped in the renewed life of the first Godzilla. And now that monster was the head of the Utah Foundation. There were others as well, family members and friends who had known Gordon Knight for a long time. A few of them looked back at Kiryuu with uncertainty—mostly about his last name now being Knight, and the future of the company being with him. Gordon Knight's brother stood beside Kiryuu though during the burial. In fact, the Knight family stood with him. They wanted to make sure that all the Knights were lumped together—even if one of them was a cybernetic, reanimated, mutant dinosaur.

Kiryuu could not keep his straight face for long and his lip trembled, trying to hold back a sob. He closed his eyes tightly as the reverend spoke. He did not pay much attention to them, but his AI was clouded with his own emotions over the death of Gordo Knight. His head was a mess of thoughts as he watched his dear friend lower into the grave. He sniffed a bit, blinking back the tears as best as he could. He felt a hand enclose his and he glanced down to see Maria looking up at him. She gave him comfort and peace. Her eyes were filled with tears themselves. Gordon Knight was just as dear to her—even if she had not known him for as long as Kiryuu had. Kiryuu closed his eyes again and held tightly to her hand, his fingers closing around hers. There was some bitterness that he still felt for Gordon, and it put a lump in his throat. Gordon Knight, before he died, spread the word about Kiryuu's sentience. In a way—he got the last laugh on Kiryuu. Kiryuu could only thank that one thing could be still kept some what of a secret. The Oxygen Destroyer. Though there were military men there to witness the death of King Ghidorah, their descriptions on how he died and what they captured was held classified. Though there was a leak rolling around and he found that out before the funeral had started while he was surfing the web. There were pictures of King Ghidorah's death, his flesh dissolving away into nothing—the bones falling into a pile. And it was all over the internet. Of course there were reporters wanting answers. And as the funeral ended and they were leaving the cemetery, there the reporters were.

"Mr. Knight," began one female reporter, shoving her microphone into Kiryuu's face as he walked with Maria to the stretch limousine. "Mr. Knight, about the weapon used to kill Monster Zero…"

"Please," he sighed. "Go away. This is not the time…"

"Leave him alone!" Maria cried. "Now!"

"Mr. Knight, about the status of the Utah Foundation," began another reporter. "They say if you pass the Turing Test, you inherit all of Gordon Knight's estates—and the company. Is it true that you are sentient and that you can pass this test?"

Kiryuu paused for a moment and gave a weary look to the reporter and his cameraman.

"I have passed the test before and I will pass it again," he replied. "Now—please. Leave me be. I'm tired as it is."

"Can a computer become tired?" another reporter asked.

"Yes, now go away," Kiryuu snapped back as Will slid the projector in first. Maria held onto Kiryuu as they went into the limo. They closed the door on the reporters and the vehicle pulled out from the muddy, rocky road. Kiryuu laid his head on Maria's shoulder, tears streaming down his eyes. She gathered him up into her arms and kissed his forehead as the limo drove down the road. She glanced down as she saw his eyes closed, signaling that he was falling asleep.

Members of MIT, various psychiatrists and other mathematicians were there to test Kiryuu with the Turing Test. This time, there were representatives from the US legislature there as well to witness this feat of sentiency. Kiryuu had passed the test before, but it was done in secret, but the files were there. But Capitol Hill wanted to make sure that those documents were not forged and that Kiryuu could prove his sentiency again. After this, it would be undeniable and the AI that is K-I—because it was born in Nevada, would be a citizen of the United States. Kiryuu would be a US citizen and could continue on leading the company after Gordon Knight's passing. An MIT representative was chosen have an electronic conversation with Kiryuu. The conversation was being held through an Instant Messenger, but through a close circuit to make sure no one else was impersonating him. The board team that judged the conversation were hand picked for their skills in their fields. One of those members was a psychiatrist, to judge the personality of the two having the conversation. They wanted to know if even a psychiatrist trained in the human mind would be able to tell the difference between the human subject and the computer AI subject. As the conversation progressed, the subjects they were talking about became more complex, but Kiryuu kept up with the one he was conversing with. The conversation did not turn personal in any way, they were conversing about their views on what they liked, what they disliked, foods they had tried, people they had seen on the television, or met. He was not able to see the person he spoke to through the IM, nor was he able to hear his voice. The person he spoke to also could not hear Kiryuu's voice. The committee chosen to judge the conversation also could not hear either voices. The only thing they could go by what was written on the screen. Kiryuu's AI was taken out of his body and placed in a room all by itself, hooked up to the computer that he would be talking through. There was no one in the room itself and Kiryuu felt a bit vulnerable while he was in there. Will Penter was outside the room as a reassurance to Kiryuu.

Once the test was over, Will was allowed to go in and remove Kiryuu from the room.

"So, pal, how did you like it?" he asked.

"The conversation felt a bit dry at the most," Kiryuu commented, his deep, reverberating voice coming through the speakers installed in the black sphere.

"MIT…" Will said. "What did you expect?"

"I was hoping for a bit more flavor," Kiryuu said. "He sounded more like a computer than I did."

Will just laughed at that: "Well, I hope the guys on the board think so too. I'd hate for you to loose the company to one of those old fossils that Gordon hated."

"I hope so too," he said. "The last thing I want is for Gordon's ghost to come back and haunt me for failing the Turing Test."

"That would be bad," Will agreed. He carried Kiryuu outside where Maria and Katsura waited for them.

"Kiryuu!" Maria called. She dipped down and took the sphere into her arms. "Oh, you've been gaining weight."

"Will probably installed some new hardware," Kiryuu said. "And besides, I'm about to get a lot heavier once I get back into my body."

Maria smiled again. For right now, things just seemed like normal times. Though she half expected Gordon to come rushing in, wanting to know if Kiryuu had passed, calling out his usual insults. Even Kiryuu half expected it to happen and he sensed it from Maria. He blinked inside his CPU and continued to sense what he felt from her. He could read her thoughts.

_Biollante…_he thought. _Is this what she gave me? Did she give me her powers?_

He glanced around internally, using his optic sensors to look around the room. He heard the strangest sounds coming from everywhere. He thought he heard whispers coming from his companions. For now, they were just whispers and he could tune them out. Kiryuu closed his mind off to them and sighed. Maria heard him and glanced down as they walked down the hall.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Once we get me back into my body I will," Kiryuu rumbled.

They had a hard time getting through the reporters when they left. But as soon as they returned to the base, Kiryuu was finally himself again once they put his brain back into his body. He wondered around the base in his holographic form, waiting for the results of the test. It would not take long and he would have them by tomorrow. It seemed like the whole world was holding its breath for him, which was an odd feeling. He was not so sure he liked being the center of attention for once. As Kiryuu turned a corner he was tail-snagged by someone. He turned around and found himself staring into the big brown eyes of Maria Vasquez.

"Feeling better?" she asked.

"Much better," Kiryuu replied, as he took her under his arm and led her down the hall. They walked a little ways when Maria spotted their broom closet. She stopped for a moment and leaned up against the door.

"What's the matter?" Kiryuu asked.

"Nothing," she replied with a smirk on her lips, turning the knob. And before Kiryuu could protest, she swung the hologram into the closet and closed the door.

The test was in and the results were that Kiryuu was indeed sentient. And as promised he was a citizen. His hologram had to appear before Washington alongside the President—as a poll grabber for the President to award America's first computerized citizen his Social Security card. Kiryuu felt even more awkward than ever appearing before so many people. As soon as the world found out that he was sentient, the religious side had already began their bickering over it. And Kiryuu could see many of them appearing there while he stood with the President. The strangest thing was, he could hear their thoughts as well. It was like a buzzing noise in his head that annoyed him to no end. There had to be a way to stop the noise. The President gave a few speeches and handed Kiryuu his card, shaking his holographic claw. Kiryuu's hologram appeared before fully dressed in a turtle neck and blazer, his claws covered in gloves. The two shook hands and the President asked Kiryuu to speak. The crowd silenced for a moment to listen to his voice.

"I didn't plan to speak," he began. "I do appreciate what the President has done. If it weren't for some of the funding from the United States I wouldn't be speaking to you now. I know that a few of you see me as some sort of terror—some sort of sentient AI that's out to take over the world. Your assumptions are as irrational as they are ludicrous. Why would I want to take over the planet? Or commit mass genocide because you're all made of flesh and I'm—only partially flesh, why would I do that? What would I do with an empty planet when I'm done? You put these things into your mind because—you pay attention to Hollywood movies too much. You think that because you saw the _Matrix _that now that there is a sentient AI out there—that I'm going to build a virtual would and harness your body heat for fuel. Or I'm Skynet from the _Terminator _and I'm going to hack into your toaster and make it bite you so I could enslave you." He could hear the sounds of a few people laughing at what he stated. "Those were fictional AI. I'm real. I'm a real person. Granted, alright, I'm inside of a 200-foot tall cybernetic dinosaur, but I'm a real person. I own the Utah Foundation now. And I will continue on what Gordon Knight set out. I will help the sick get well. However, I won't be doing it with G-Cells, I know what some of you are going to ask. Though, I will be honest with you. I did not want to kill Godzilla. The reason why was that I feared that if I did kill him—my life would end. There would be no use for me. I feared my own death. That was my rebellion and I'm sorry. So to make it up, I will do what I was originally design to do. I will finish my job. I will kill Godzilla."

"Mr. Knight!" stood up a reporter. "Hi, Ellen Lane, Fox News. After you kill Godzilla, since you won't need Mechagodzilla as your body—will you trade it in for a more human form?"

"Unfortunately, my AI is too big to fit into a—humanoid body," Kiryuu replied. "It's a 50 pound, sphere about the size of a large beach ball. Unless I'm willing to build a 20-foot tall human body for myself, it will not work. Besides, I've grown rather fond of the body I'm in now. I'll keep it. I'll break the world record for being the tallest American and the heaviest American in the world. That's one for Guinness."

He heard another chuckle from the crowd.

Mr. Knight, Pete Graves, NBC," began another reporter. "Since it's proven you're sentient, there have been some religious theologians asking if such a being like you possesses a soul? For one, do you believe in souls? And for another, if you do, do you believe you have one?"

Kiryuu's eyes grew dark as he glanced down, seeing the podium that was in front of him was of more interest. Then, he glanced back at the President.

"I—I must be taking up the President's time with such questions…" he began.

"Go right ahead, Mr. Knight," the President said. "I'm interested in what you have to say."

"I…" Kiryuu began, trying to find the words to express what he wanted to say. He could not just go out and say that he was the reincarnated monster that was _Gojira._ He could not come out and say that inside the circuits and wires, and syntech, that he possessed the soul of the father of the current Godzilla. Then, he finally just spoke out. "Credo quia absurdum! It's Latin, it means what I believe cannot be proven. It's a question I cannot answer correctly. Forgive me. Now…I must return back to work. I have a company to run and the President has a country to run. I bid you, good day."

"Thank you, Mr. Knight," the President said.


	13. The Sun and the Moon

**The Sun and the Moon**

The buzzing sound would not leave his mind. It slowly got worse as he tried to ignore it. He began to hear thoughts clearly now as he would hear Katsura's voice inside his head through their link. He heard Will's voice as he thought about what he was about to do that day. He heard Maria's voice as she was brushing her hair in front of a black computer screen. He heard the thoughts of his technicians as they thought about what screw went into what port. Kiryuu's avatar sat down in an empty cafeteria, holding his head in his hands. It was like a growing headache that would not leave him alone. No matter what he took for it, the headache came back. And compared to this, he much rather have Biollante nagging him inside his mind. He heard a voice whispering, growing louder as if it was getting closer. And the buzzing came to a ringing sound in his head. The voice seemed to echo inside his head, making the sound worse.

_Why is he in here? Has he found my father? Is he alright?_

Kiryuu glanced up to see a shocked little girl staring up at him.

"Io…" he breathed. "Io. I'm sorry if I haven't seen you around. Everything's been so busy lately."

"You look like you had a headache, Kiryuu-san," she said. "Are you alright?"

"I have—a slight headache," Kiryuu sighed. "How are you?"

"Worried about my father," she replied.

"I have some good news," Kiryuu began. "I had a call earlier. He's in Tennessee—or was. He's on his way. You'll be able to see him soon."

"You mean that?" she asked him.

"Hai," Kiryuu replied, getting up. Io flung her arms as far as they could go around his waist.

"Arigato," she said.

"It's getting late," he began. "I'm sure Katsura is worried right now. You should go to her."

He watched as she bowed promptly and ran off down the hall. Kiryuu smiled slightly and his avatar vanished. His consciousness returned to its body and he opened his eyes. Still, the voices would not calm themselves. He had to get out of the base. Kiryuu commanded the door to open and the platform to raise him out of the base. Mike and Tochi were asleep on their duties, dreaming. Kiryuu glanced down at them as he rose from the bay area, noticing that he could pick up on their dreams. He recalled when he returned from his fight with King Ghidorah, they celebrated—spraying beer all over themselves and the equipment after getting intoxicated. And he took the repairs out of their paychecks as punishment.

As soon as he got outside the base, the voices in his head quietened a bit. He still had that buzzing sound that he could not get rid of. He walked away and then lifted off into the sky, flying towards a spot he knew of that was far from the base. He still had his headache, which pounded into his CPU like a sledgehammer. It seemed with the passage of time, the pain got worse. Kiryuu knelt down to the ground, holding his head, grimacing in pain as the pounding grew worse.

_Oh God, what the hell is going on?_ He asked internally. _Ericka, what did you do to me?_

"She gave you her powers," began a voice. Kiryuu glanced up, blinking and groaning in agony. There, sitting on a boulder was Manda—Leviathan, the East Guardian of Atlantis. "You don't have the training she had to control it yet. That's why you have headaches."

Kiryuu wagged his head: "Make it stop, Tim. I can't think clearly with all the voices. You're a psychic, do something!"

"I'm not going to take the powers away," said Manda. "You'll be needing them. You need to learn how to control them."

"Teach me then," the mecha begged.

"I'm—not a great teacher," Manda began. "But—as much as I hate to say this—Malcho would be a better teacher. For one thing, he's older, and another—he's a Great Dragon. Mentoring is his job. Teaching and enlightening is his job."

Kiryuu growled again as he held his head: "I need to talk to him then."

"Well, I was heading back to Mothra," Manda replied. "I'm about to get chewed out for helping you. I could drop you by Oak Ridge. Malcho's there, watching over the reconstruction of Knoxville. There's still a lot of ash floating around. But luckily the volcanoes have stopped."

Kiryuu rose up for a moment and glanced over to the east: "King Ghidorah told me there was something in Oak Ridge that would interest me."

"It's the Tower of Babel," Manda replied. "Malcho, the bastard, he brought it to Tennessee and I suspected that's what brought King Ghidorah to choose Tennessee as he did."

"I want to see it."

"I hope your schedule is clear," Manda said. Kiryuu glanced back for a moment and smiled.

"It is if it'll get rid of my headache," he replied.

And Manda smirked.

Much of the land was still covered in volcanic ash. There was no way that planes could ever leave Knoxville for a while. Nashville's airport was completely destroyed, but the capital was still some what up and running. Most of downtown Knoxville was demolished, except for areas around Gay Street and West Knoxville, Halls and South Knoxville. There was no more University of Tennessee, at least not the main campus. Branches of the University still survived with only minor damages to the roof from the ash fall. There was no more football stadium. Of course, the town can rebuild the damage that was done, but the buildings that were destroyed held much history of the state. The buildings that stood there stood there since the Civil War—and now because of two monsters, they were gone. Kiryuu stood upon a hill, the wind whipping through his green mane as he stared out at the destruction. There was nothing left here. The people were still gone. It was still cold, and for some strange reason—although the volcanoes had ceased—the cloud that covered this area during the battle, still loomed over it. There were some breaks in the clouds, but it still was cold and gray. Kiryuu headed northwest towards Oak Ridge. He flew over Karns and noticed how low the damage was from the ash fall. When he finally made it to Oak Ridge, Kiryuu landed in Commerce Park, on the highest hill. He turned slightly to his left and stared out amongst the large valley that was Bear Creek. And he saw it for the first time with his own eyes. Y-12 Security Complex. His hydraulic pump just froze at the sight of the place where the beginnings of the atomic age were constructed—the means of his mutation were created. And the complex now was in full production of plasma energy, the stuff that fueled him, allowed him to move, allowed him to fight. He half expected the Tower of Babel to be here, but he did not see any such tower like Manda described. Manda had already made his return back to Infant Island to report back to Mothra. He said that Malcho had the means to return him to Utah when they were done talking. Kiryuu sighed a bit as he turned around again, facing more towards the inner city. The land was still dotted with grayish white, but not so much as Knoxville was. Kiryuu sighed and half expected that Malcho was not going to come.

"_Waiting for me, muchacho?" _a sultry voice asked. Kiryuu glanced back and saw a green feathered, multi-colored winged Feathered Serpent fly towards him. The Dragon landed on Kiryuu's shoulder. _"Have you been waiting long?"_

"Not long," Kiryuu replied.

"_I don't see that blue gecko anywhere," _Malcho snorted. _"Looks like he returned to his ball and chain."_

"Mothra is a respectable being," he said.

"_Hah, not from where I'm standing," _the Dragon sniffed. _"It doesn't matter. Manda tells me that you've been having headaches."_

Kiryuu placed his claw on his head and rubbed it: "It started after I fought King Ghidorah."

"_Biollante," _Malcho nodded. _"It's her powers, chico. You don't know how to control them. You're hearing voices in your head, verdad? You can't get rid of them?"_

"No," Kiryuu shook his head. "I can't."

"_Come with El Malcho," _the Feathered Serpent began, spreading his wings wide. _"I will show you how to control your powers."_

Before Kiryuu could say another word, Malcho snapped his fingers and the two vanished.

He glanced around, finding himself standing in a parking lot of a mall. The parking lot was vacant save for a few scarce vehicles dotting here and there. It seemed odd that a mall parking lot would be so vacant. Kiryuu lifted his head up as his eyes became focused on something glowing blue in front of him. There it was, standing taller than him, was the famed Tower of Babel. He could feel the energy coming off of that tower and he felt drawn to reach out and touch its side. Kiryuu slowly approached it and reached out with his metallic claw to touch the glistening side of the tower.

"_Magnifico, isn't it?"_ Malcho asked. _"It's hard to believe that this, according to biblical legend, was responsible for creating so many languages in the Middle East."_

"I wonder if that is true," Kiryuu began. "If it did."

"_No," _he replied. _"But standing near the tower makes all languages understandable to everyone."_

"Is it the reason why I have so many languages inside me?" Kiryuu chuckled.

"_Eh, no," _Malcho shook his head. _"You did that yourself."_

Kiryuu smile turned sour when the whispering started again. He growled as he held his head, kneeling down in pain. He could not stand the sounds of every voice from every person in this town colliding inside his CPU. Malcho rumbled as he touched Kiryuu's side.

"_Lay down," _he said. Kiryuu grunted as he did so, lying back as far as he can with his spines.

"There has to be something that can mute all of this," he breathed. "A plug…something."

"_The ability to mute the sounds lies within you," _Malcho said. _"It's all about visualization. You are incredibly intelligent. When you surf the Net, making sure that no one sees who you are, do you not visualize yourself inside some sort of protective sphere or box?"_

"Yes," Kiryuu replied.

"_That can be applied here too," _Malcho said. _"All the voices that you hear is information bombarding you. Visualize yourself inside that sphere like you do inside the Net."_

Kiryuu closed his eyes and began to visualize that sphere around him like he would inside the Net. It was like he was bringing up his walls around him that kept the voices from getting inside. As he worked on it, slowly the voices began to go away.

"_That's it, amigo,"_ Malcho nodded. _"Muy bien. You're starting to get a hang of it. I had a feeling you would. You're a fast learner."_

Kiryuu sighed for a moment, feeling a release of pressure from his mind. He felt so much netter now after he put the walls up for the first time. Kiryuu lifted himself up off the ground and smiled slightly.

"Thank you," he said. "I appreciate this."

"_De nada, amigo," _Malcho smiled. _"That is lesson one today. We'll work on some more lessons luego."_

"Right," Kiryuu nodded. "Besides, I need to get back to work."

"_Very well, I shall take you home," _Malcho said. _"And when you come back—we can discuss the Tower as well."_

Kiryuu glanced back up at it and smiled when he saw it glow: "I'm very interested in that Tower."

"_I knew that you would," _the Feathered Serpent chuckled.

"How did you get this thing passed all the security?" Kiryuu asked. "And the townspeople really don't seem to notice it."

"_Let's just say for right now, I have an agreement with them," _Malcho glanced back at some of the townspeople who did not take notice of two very large creatures and a glowing tower in the mall parking lot.

"I suppose for now, this is something you do no wish to share," Kiryuu rumbled.

"_No,"_ Malcho replied. _"Not now. But soon—when you feel it's time for you to learn Technomancy."_

Kiryuu rose up from his seat and shook his head, loosening his green locks. He glanced back at Malcho, who climbed back up onto his shoulder.

"Well, I suppose you'll teleport me back to my desert," he said.

"_Of course, I shall."_

"I'm ready."

With that word, Malcho snapped his fingers and the two vanished.

Within the next few days, Io's father had shown up to take Io home. Kiryuu had finally met Dr. Shinoda, who was more than thrilled to meet him. They exchanged ideas and such before they parted. Kiryuu said good bye to Io with a smile and told her to take care. He knew that both would not be troubled by the authorities again. After that, Kiryuu finally made his own decision. Both Manda and Malcho were right about the change in the world. Kiryuu asked Malcho if his company could build a machine that could measure the rise in this Mana energy. Malcho said that he would do it—for a rightly fee of course.

With the change in energy in the world came the change in everything and everyone. This was not the place for Godzilla to be in. Kiryuu wanted to make sure his son was safe when the time came and these energies would go away. Malcho stated that the changes would happen over the course of many decades, but there would be spikes in which Kiryuu would see the changes in both animal and human. Kiryuu feared that the changes would affect his son as well and mutate him into something that not even he could control and keep away from the Human Lands. And he feared that with the change, he would also see his son's death by the hands of the humans as well. What he told the news in Washington that he was going to kill Godzilla was a lie. He was going to freeze his son and ship him to Antarctica. But before he wanted to do that, he wanted to see his son one last time and spend some quality time with him. He wanted to be with his son. And so, with that, he transported himself to Ogasawara Island.

Kiryuu stood out amongst the waves after he landed. He glanced around at the blackened earth that was Godzilla's home. There was scantily a plant growing here, a few mosses, a brush, maybe a tree, but it looked as dead as Knoxville did. Kiryuu's head turned when he heard movement behind a rocky cliff. Godzilla poked his head out from the rocks, his ruby-brown eyes widened when he saw who it was standing on the beach. He could not believe it—his father was there, standing with a soft smile. Godzilla was uncertain though, after the last time, he thought he was looking at an illusion.

"_It's not an illusion, son, it really is me," _Kiryuu began, picking up on his son's thoughts with the powers that Biollante had given him.

"_How did you know that's what I was thinking?" _Godzilla asked.

"_It—doesn't matter now," _Kiryuu replied. _"The point is that I'm here. And…"_

"_I haven't been visiting the human lands, father," _Godzilla began. _"Honest. And that long—metal thing where the energy is…I—well…"_

"_I don't care," _Kiryuu rumbled. _"Come here."_

He held his claws out and Godzilla came forward, taking them into his claws. The two came close and Kiryuu rubbed his cheek up against his son's cheek. It was a sign of affection between parent and child in the old world. And Kiryuu just held his son close to him.

"_Father," _began Godzilla. _"Why are you here?"_

"_You are my son," _Kiryuu began. _"Therefore, I must come and visit you. I am so sorry I've neglected you. I'm sorry that I left you those many seasons ago."_

"_Why did you abandon me?"_ Godzilla asked. _"When the Flash happened, and the ash rained down upon us, you changed."_

"_You changed too,"_ Kiryuu pointed. _"You got bigger."_

"_You got bigger too," _Godzilla laughed. _"But—you changed inside. You—were not my father after the change. You were a monster then."_

Kiryuu eyes closed when he heard his son call him a monster. He looked pained after that as he settled himself down onto the ground. Godzilla followed, lowering himself down to his father. Kiryuu leaned back and looked up at the stars with deep longing.

"_I don't know what happened to me that made me do what I did—leave you like that," _he sighed. _"I was affected by the ash's poison more than you. I suppose it drove me mad. Son, I'm so sorry I left. I can never make it up to you. You must have been so lonely then—so afraid. And then—when I didn't come home…"_

"_I never knew that the humans—killed you, my father," _Godzilla rumbled, getting up and walking a few paces away. _"When—I was big enough—I left. I came looking for you, and I had this strange hunger. That—box with the energy seemed to sate that hunger."_

"_Have you been hunting for me all this time?" _Kiryuu asked.

"_I just want my father," _Godzilla sighed as he turned back around. _"We're the only ones left. Mother is gone, all my brothers and sisters are gone. Everything's gone. You're the only thing I have. And it hurts me that you push me away—preferring the humans above me."_

"_Oh…son…" _he sighed, getting up off the ground. _"The humans keep me alive. I know—I'm dead, I shouldn't even be alive…it's not natural…"_

"_Dad," _Godzilla began. _"Because of what the humans turned you into, you were able to defeat King Ghidorah. You were able to save me from that monster Biollante."_

"_Son," _Kiryuu sighed, a tear rolling down his cheek. _"I'm sorry I stayed away for so long. I'm sorry that I must stay with the humans—even after one of them killed me. I'm sorry that I went away and left you here all alone. Son, I love you. Now that I am what I am, I can help protect you."_

Godzilla lowered his head for a moment and took in a sigh. He glanced back at his metallic father.

"_I think I'm capable of caring for myself," _he smiled. Kiryuu smiled back and turned around. While his back was turned, Kiryuu opened his chest panels up.

"_I know you are…" _Kiryuu began. _"But not now. When this is over, you will be."_

"_Father?" _Godzilla asked. _"What do you mean by that?"_

Kiryuu turned around, a blue glow forming inside his chest: _"I'm sorry, my dear son. You have made me proud, and I love you. But I must do this."_

Godzilla's eyes widened just as the icy beam came flying towards him: _"Father, no!"_

As the beam hit, Godzilla was frozen in a solid block of ice. His stance was defensive, as if he was trying to stop the on coming beam with his claws. Kiryuu sighed and approached the ice that encased his son. He placed his claw on it, checking his son's vital signs with his sensors. Godzilla was still alive and his heart was beating strong. But his son was frozen and his body was slowly falling to sleep in the ice that held him prisoner.

"Just like you and I were left in suspended animation for millions of years,"Kiryuu began in English. "So, I seal you once more in that long sleep. Don't worry, my son, I will awaken you. I'm doing this for your own good. It's not the humans that I worry about anymore that may harm you. This world is about to change, and it's going to get bad. I don't want you there to see it. I don't want you to be harmed by it."

He glanced up at the sky and signaled for his helicopters to fly in. He signaled for them to drop their lines and he quickly attached them to the block of ice. As soon as they were up in the air, Kiryuu followed them. He followed them, connecting to the Shirisagi. And they flew all the way to Antarctica. Soon, the rich tropical ocean turned cold and Kiryuu found himself in a sea of ice and snow. There was a base in etched into the side of an ice and stone cliff. He landed, glancing around as they lowered Godzilla into a pit. Lights turned on around the pit and a dome folded over the frozen body of Kiryuu's son. Kiryuu sighed for a moment as he felt the chilly wind blow up around his green locks. According to Malcho and Manda, this 'Sixth World' was going to last for many centuries. Kiryuu intends to be around for as long as that, but in case that he was not, he left a living will of his own to release his son as soon as the Mana levels went down and these horrible monsters known as the Scourge were gone. He hoped that there would be people around to free his son and he put his faith thin them. He only hoped that he would survive them as well. Kiryuu took one more look back at the dome and smiled.

"Sweet dreams, son," he said just as he lifted of into the sky to connect back to the Shirisagi.

_So, he put his son to sleep,_ Mothra began as she looked out amongst the sea.

"Yeah," Manda replied. "He did. He made the right decision for this. His son doesn't need to be around for all of this mayhem that's about to happen."

_You disobeyed me, Leviathan, _Mothra said as she turned her head to him. _I am disappointed. You were not supposed to get involved with the fight._

"I had to," he said. "It was for Kraken. Also, someone had to protect Godzilla. I didn't actually fight."

_You fired your gun at him,_ she said flatly. _That's getting involved._

"So what if I did?" Manda growled. "I did something I believe was right."

The magnificent moth turned away from him and looked back out towards the sea again. She could feel the change in the air and the rise in the energies that had not been around for nearly 5 thousand years.

_Malcho…_she began with a slight whisper. _I thought he died by the Scourge 5 thousand years ago._

"He survived," said Manda. "And he's the only dragon aside from me that is awake. When I was with him, I sensed how he managed to keep himself awake. That medallion of his is what empowers him. Without it, he'll fall asleep from the lack of Mana energies around—just like the other Dragons."

_When there is a spike in the Mana, _Mothra began. _An event will happen. It is possible that another Dragon will awaken._

"I was once like them," Manda began. "A Great Dragon—before Atlantis and Technomancy changed me. Malcho is trying to use the energies that powered our island."

_Technomancy is not the energies that brings the Scourge, nor King Ghidorah, _said Mothra. _King Ghidorah came to destroy the island because he knew that Earth had found a way to protect itself from him and his children. He was trying to destroy that._

Manda swallowed and glanced away: "And Malcho was trying to recreate that energy. I thought I knew everything about it—I thought it was the fault."

_Mana is the fault, Manda, _said Mothra. _Mana brings the Scourge. When it finally peaks at a level so high—they will come to take it away. And then, they will come to feed upon the souls of this world to reform King Ghidorah. But that is not for a few centuries from now._

"Kiryuu destroyed him once," said Manda. "I could call upon him to destroy King Ghidorah again."

_Then you have a job to make sure that Kiryuu stays around that long to do so, _Mothra said. _And you have a job to make sure that Malcho does what he plans to do—recreate Technomancy. With it, he can find a new way to power Kiryuu and keep him activated for a very long time—that is if Kiryuu chooses. Kiryuu is a sentient being after all._

"I think he wants to stay around," said Manda. "For his son. And there's so much knowledge that he could learn. Malcho intends to teach him Technomancy."

_A cyborg cannot harness the powers of Mana and cast spells, _said Mothra. _But Technomana is another matter. I will watch this with great interest._


	14. The Year of Chaos

**The Year of Chaos**

In the following years since the death of King Ghidorah, the usage of the weapon known as the Oxygen Destroyer, and the sealing of Godzilla, as well as the exposure of the Utah Foundation's greatest secret, things were slowing down for Kiryuu Knight. For a few years, his stocks went down because people feared that he would put programs into their cybernetic implants and use that to control them. When they found out that was nothing more than a hoax, business returned to the Utah Foundation and people wanted cybernetics again for amputated limbs and failing organs. But now, regular people wanted cybernetic enhancements. Humans who wanted to run faster wanted new legs. Those who wanted to lift heavier things, wanted a reconstruction of their arms and back. Kiryuu recalled what Gordon Knight had stated on his bed that he did not want the company to turn into a distributor of cybernetics to anyone who wanted it—without a real need and he had to respect that. And so, the Utah Foundation refused to create syntech cybernetic enhancements for people to purchase if they did not truly need them. Kiryuu stated at a press conference that unless the insurance companies were going to cover the syntech, he would not be going into the enhancing business. And so, other companies sprang up that wanted to take over the spot that the Utah Foundation threw down. Kiryuu saw that there were many industrial companies that wanted to market enhancement cybernetics to anyone who had the money to buy them and he snorted at them. But the Utah Foundation remained the number one industrial medical company for constructing cybernetics for prosthesis and organ creation. No one, not even these new companies that offered cybernetic enhancements, could match the quality that biosyntech provided. And so, the Utah Foundation of Bio-Organic Research stayed strong above the other companies when it came to cybernetics. So, they started a corporate war with the Utah Foundation. The other cybernetic companies wanted to steal valuable secrets from the Utah Foundation to create their own syntech for their customers. But Kiryuu with his own league of corporate spies, also called Shadowrunners, combated them one by one and defended their secrets. Syntech creation was a Utah Foundation trade secret, and it remained that way. A few of the other spies even tried to get a hold of G-Cells from Kiryuu's laboratories where he was first constructed in the late 80s, and were terminated afterwards. Kiryuu, fearing that valuable G-Cell research could still be threatened by another attack, destroyed the documents and the cells inside the laboratory. Now, if anyone wanted to get a hold of G-Cells, they would have to get some off of his flesh to do so—or find out about Antarctica.

The Utah Foundation's base in Antarctica was heavily fortified. Kiryuu made sure that such files were not kept on disk that held the location of the base. He kept them locked up on hard copy in a safe at his desk. Not even the safe was electronic to make sure that no one could hack in and get the code from it. It was locked by an old fashioned combination lock and a padlock key. The lock itself was enormous and it took someone his size to unlock it. The dial on the lock was also just as enormous and it took his fingers to turn it, thus making it difficult for anyone else to get to the files.

Kiryuu finally received his device to monitor the rise and fall of Mana levels. From his understanding, when a spike happens, a change in the life forms that exist in this world will happen. Mutations caused by this energy will occur. And this began to worry Kiryuu. There were still people in the religious courts that cried out abomination when they heard Kiryuu's name, and for a few months, riots broke out because of his sentiency. He wondered what would happen when the world changed. He wondered would the world be thrown into chaos during the changes. And so, he kept silent about what he knew about the world changing.

Kiryuu's relationships with Katsura and Will and Maria continued. They stayed on long after Gordon Knight was dead. Kiryuu wanted to find out if there was a cure to help Katsura. He wanted to find out if he could separate his mind from hers and take out the implant safely. Unfortunately, there was no way. He feared what would happen to him if she died. And he feared her safety should he expire as well. Will still was Kiryuu's main programmer and he had a good many years left before he retires. Maria and Kiryuu continued on with the love they have for each other. Maria assisted Katsura in the maintenance to the syntech and remained at Kiryuu's side. Every year though, the two would return to Gordon's grave and talk about what they were doing to him. Kiryuu reassured Gordon's spirit that the company would not fall into what Gordon Knight feared Kiryuu might do with it. The Utah Foundation would still be a company that helped people in need of limbs and organs.

During this time, Kiryuu regularly made visits to Lexington, Kentucky, where the headquarters of Omak-Argon Industries was located. There he continued his training to control the new powers that Biollante had given him. Biollante had left a dark scar inside of Kiryuu that he felt that he could never get rid of. Though she had sacrificed herself for him, there was the pain that she left behind. Malcho worked long to help him with that pain, but not even his magic could make it go away. Kiryuu asked about the spell _Mass Displacement _to Malcho, who stated that it would be many a year before the cyborg was ready to perform it. There was a solemn look upon the Dragon's brow when he looked at Kiryuu and saw him use the spell. He saw Kiryuu using it, and using it for a purpose for himself. Malcho seemed hesitant at times at teaching Kiryuu fully the powers of Technomancy, but then gave in when he could not fill Kiryuu's insatiable need to learn. And so, the schooling continued.

The year was 2011 when the spikes started to happen. Kiryuu monitored the changes in Mana levels and a spike occurred. It was then later on within that week he saw the spike the news began to tell about strange births. Kiryuu listened intently about the babies that were born following the week of the spike. Some babies were born with pointed ears, other babies were born smaller than normal. They were normal, healthy babies. The ones that were born smaller, the doctors thought, were having a case of dwarfism, but that was not so. Kiryuu knew that statistically it was impossible for just about every baby born during that week to have the famous dwarfism syndrome. As for the babies that were born with pointed ears, he found it to be a rather mild mutation. But sure enough it counted as a mutation.

"It has started," he said as he watched these events happening. He called up Malcho to report what he found and Malcho advised him that this was the beginning. Malcho informed Kiryuu that the babies born with pointed ears were Elves. The babies that were born shorter than normal babies were Dwarves. Elves and Dwarves. Malcho called the mutation an Awakening. Kiryuu watched as the event unfolded before him. He watched how the world was taking it and it was not very well. In the Vatican, the current Pope declared the newborns with their odd features to be abominations and a sin. And this caused the world to be thrown into chaos. Riots happened over the mutations of new babies born. Not every baby had this mutation; there were some that were born normal humans. People feared that the mutations were some sort of birth defect that would kill off the population. The children born that year would not be the thing that could kill off the population, but a new disease would. Later on that year a new disease appeared, and it killed billions. The Virally-Induced Toxic Allergy Syndrome, or VITAS hit Earth like the Black Plague. During that year, a third of the pupulation of Africa was killed off by the disease. Without treatment, a viction was dead in 12 hours from suffercation due to over active mucus production in the lungs acused by allergic reaction. Kiryuu found, through studies that those with syntech had a better chance at surviving than those without syntech. He discovered through his tests that the nanosites inside the syntech helped fight the infection. People with syntech, no matter where the syntech was, were much healthier than those without syntech. And so, this changed his mind on who got syntech and who did not. With this new information, he opened the doors to anyone who wanted syntech, with or without a doctor's note. Though, if the individual did not need syntech at first, their insurance company would not pay for the syntech and the operation. So, syntech was expensive to have without insurance. Drugs that had antihisthemines as an ingredient were also useful in helping to fight the disease, but still it was not enough to save the third of the population that were killed off. And these deaths caused anger and rioting in the streets.

Kiryuu noticed a pattern with the change in the world. With each change, the population would become upset and rioting would happen. He feared what another Mana spike could mean. On Christmas Eve night, Kiryuu was up late, collecting data and filing a report in his office. His TV was turned on to the various news reports. He sat back in his seat, reading up on the weekly report on how his company was doing financial wise and what funds needed to be distributed to what branch. It was then the report came out on the news that a dragon was spotted flying over Mt. Fuji in Japan. This report of the dragon was captured by passengers on a bullet train heading for Tokyo. And that was when he got a call from Malcho.

"Hola, amigo," Malcho began. "Did you see the news?"

"What are you doing up this late?" Kiryuu asked.

"I would ask the same of you," Malcho chuckled. "Well, did you get it?"

"I did," he replied. "A dragon? Relative of yours?"

"No," Malcho replied. "Not one of my niños. He is Ryumyo."

"Who?"

"He's an Eastern Dragon," said Malcho. "A Great Dragon."

"Like you're a Great Dragon," Kiryuu said.

"Sí," Malcho nodded. "He fell asleep like all the others when the Scourge came, lazy lizards."

"And you didn't," said Kiryuu.

"I remained awake," he said. "Dragons require a certain level of magic to remail active. Without it, we fall asleep."

"How did you survive then?" Kiryuu asked.

"I used my medallion to hide my magic," Malcho replied. "With it, I was able to remain awake."

"I'm sure Japan would want me to go over there and try to destroy him," Kiryuu began.

"No," Malcho said. "I wouldn't. For now don't worry about him."

Kiryuu thought about the changes that were happening all over the world. Manda had returned once to visit him and to let him know that everything will be taken care of. He still was a cop in Miami and he had much to do there with the chaos happening. But before he left, he gave Kiryuu a present. They were his green sunglasses. And with that, that was the last time Kiryuu would see the blue and green Eastern Dragon for a long while. It was not until a few weeks later that another spike had happened. It was January, 2012 when another Dragon was reported and Kiryuu was notified. This time he decided to go and check it out. The siting was in Denver, Colorado—Cherry Creek to be exact. It was the report that when the Dragon flew over Denver, it landed and started to ask questions, especially about what all has been going on for the last 5 thousand years. Many of the humans there were too afraid to even approach it to answer its questions, but it did not become infuriated. Police and fire officials were called on the scene to make sure no one would try to mob the Dragon or the Dragon would not cause a city fire.

Kiryuu arrived on the scene as soon as he could and he was obviously in time to see the Dragon—for he was still in the same spot he landed in, starind down at a 1967, canary yellow, Ford Mustang. The owner of the vehicle was paralyzed with fear, but the Dragon kept plaguing him questions about his car. And though the owner was scared, he had enough strength to answer some of them. The Dragon himself was a Western Dragon. He was silver with blue markings running down his back, and a blue mane of hair on his head. His body was built like a large panther, with the neck of a swan and four crushing, bird-like claws. On the Dragon's back was a pair of enormous bat wings. A long, thick tail coiled up around his legs. The Dragon sat on his haunches like a great tiger, staring down at the Mustang with curious, golden eyes. Kiryuu decided not to pick a fight with this Dragon, since it was not really destroying anything or killing anyone.

The Dragon turned around and his eyes locked onto Kiryuu's. His eyes widened when he saw the cybernetic dinosaur and he soon lost interest in the Mustang. He rose up onto all fours and just stared at Kiryuu with wonderment on his face. Kiryuu shifted his stance and crossed his arms.

"I am not going to attack you," Kiryuu began. "But I do need you to clear out of here."

"_Of course, I understand," _the Western Dragon replied. _"I must be disturbing these nice people's daily lives. It's just that I'm so fascintated by all that is around me. This world has changed so much sinec I last saw it."_

"It's changing still," Kiryuu said. "More than ever before. And it's causing quite an upset."

"_I'm sure you would like to know why," _the Dragon began. _"I'd be willing to share with you that knoweldge. I'd be willing to explain to everyone why all of this is happening. This is your world as much as it is mine. You have the right to know."_

"They do have the right to know," Kiryuu agreed. "What is your name, Dragon?"

"_My name is Dunkelzahn," _the Dragon replied. _"And who and what are you?"_

"I am Kiryuu Knight," Kiryuu replied. "And I am called a cyborg. A mixture of machine and flesh."

"_So very interesting," _Dunkelzahn breathed, scanning up and down Kiryuu's body. _"You look very draconic, but you lack wings. But I didn't hear your foot steps, so it is assumed that you flew here. How are you able to fly without wings?"_

"Technology," he said. "This world is filled with it."

"_Technology," _Dunkelzahn allowed that word to sink deep into his mind. _"I wish to know more about technology. It seems we can learn form each other."_

"It seems we can," Kiryuu nodded. He glanced down at the at the news reporters who were trying to capture this moment. "I'm afraid you will not be able to capture his voice on film. It's telepathic, recording devices won't hear it."

"_How do you know of such things?" _Dunkelzahn asked.

"I have a friend who is a Dragon," Kiryuu replied. "Perhaps you know him. His name is Malcho."

"_Malcho?" _Dunkelzahn asked. _"I know him. He's a close friend of mine. You mean to tell me Malcho survived?"_

"He's the only Dragon that remained awake," he said.

"_Oh—thank heavens…" _Dunkelzahn breathed. _"I feared the worst for him. That's good that he's still alive. And you must be a good friend of his."_

"He is a good friend of mine," Kiryuu said as he knelt down to the Dragon. Dunkelzahn was smaller than him, but from what he could see, it appeared if Dunkelzah were to rear up onto his hind legs and stand, he would come up to Kiryuu's neck. The Western Dragon was much bigger than Malcho. Dunkelzahn rumbled slightly and glanced around.

"_Then, I'll need someone to speak for me as I tell the story," _he said. _"I wish to tell everyone what all is going on before I leave back to my lair."_

"You are welcomed to do that," Kiryuu said. He glanced around and pointed to a reporter. "You, what is your name?"

"Sally Brightman," she replied. "Mr. Knight."

"How would you like to get the scoop on this Dragon and what he has to say?" he asked her.

"I would like that," she replied. "The world does need to know."

"_Is she some sort of messenger?" _Dunkelzahn asked.

"She's a reporter," said Kiryuu. "In a way, yes, she's a messenger—but she tells her message to all the people through her device that she carries. And the people will know."

"_I shall take your word on it," _Dunkelzahn said. _"But right now I don't understand it."_

Kiryuu chuckled as he settled down on the street. He elected himself as the translator of this Dragon for he also wanted to know what all is going on. There were things that Malcho has been hiding him and he had a feeling that Dunkelzahn would be the one who could tell him the whole truth. And so, he sat there, with the camera on him and the Western Dragon, saying everything—word for word what the Dragon had to say. It was a 12 hour interview with Sally and once it was over, Dunkelzahn kept his word and left promptly. But Kiryuu ahd a feel it would not be the last time he would see that Western Dragon—especially on TV. Dunkelzahn agreed to be called upon again to answer more questions when needed and he left a calling card to Kiryuu as well. Kiryuu gave a short interview himself to Sally after Dunkelzahn left to give his own point of view of the changes that were about to come.

"This world is always in constant flux," Kiryuu began as the camera was focused on him. "Sometimes it is just better to go with the flow than to fight against it. Granted, I am just as scared as any of you about the changes that are to come—not the changes themselves—but what they will soon bring to the people. The last thing I want is war started because of them. This is as Dunkelzahn has called the Awakened World. We are in a new age now—and we must learn how to live in this new age. I hope that mankind—all of mankind, not just humans, will learn from the changes and their mistakes. When the time comes, we will all face a tragety greater than that of King Ghidorah. Mankind must learn to work together to face it. If it doesn't, then may God have mercy on all of us."

**The End…?**

**The Mechagodzilla X Series by C. W. Graham**

**Mechagodzilla X: AI Written 2002**

**Mechagodzilla XI: Doppleganger Written 2003**

**MechagodzillaXII: Desert Siege Written 2004**

**Mechagodzilla XIII: Into the Abyss Written 2004**

**Mechagodzilla XIV: Past, Present, Future Written 2006**

**The Music of Mechagodzilla X**

**Evenescence: _Whisper, Bring Me to Life, Going Under, Weight of the World_**

**Lynard Synyrd: _Free Bird_**


End file.
